


Crossfire

by hykiwo



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Future, Angst, I'm Bad At Summaries, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mention of Death, Mention of wjsn members, Oppressive Government, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past KiHyuk, Rebellion, gunhee is mentioned, hacker changkyun and jooheon, hoseok is too kind, kihyun is always angry, mention of smoking, mention of soyou, wonho is the leader of the rebellion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-05-18 16:16:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14856033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hykiwo/pseuds/hykiwo
Summary: Hoseok's only goal is to take the government down and set everyone free. No matter what it was going to cost him.





	1. The Protector

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, I'm back with a new fic !  
> This one was inspired by that tweet : https://twitter.com/hykiwo/status/1000375309441650688  
> I've always wanted to write about a dystopian universe so here we are ! That chapter is pretty much an introduction to the plot, but a lot of things will come in the next chapters so stay tuned  
> I recommend you to listen to "The Glitch Mob - Enter Formless" while you're reading to get in the mood  
> Special thank to my fellow dystopia fan and beta reader @skulltoki !  
> I'll see you at the end of the chapter, enjoy !

One. Two. Breathe.

It was one of those moments again, when Hoseok could feel every cells of his body, hear the sound of the breathing in his mask, feel his pulse in his neck and sweat dripping down his forehead. He could sense his men's presence around him, a group of ten, some on his left, some on his right and behind him, all of them crouching on the floor, their guns in hands, ready to fire. They just needed one signal, the signal that only Hoseok as allowed to give. The adrenaline was giving him some sort of high, clouding his mind for a second as he was mentally repeating Kihyun's plan... Enter the building, find those blueprints, and get out as quickly as possible. They've already entered the building and the alert was given that a group of "insubordinates" has entered the building. Hoseok got back to his senses when he heard a buzzing in his micro earpiece, soon followed by a familiar voice.

 

"Okay I finally see you on my screen, those fuckers blurred the connections, thought they're smarter than me." a deep voice said in his ear

"Language I.M." another voice replied and Hoseok smiled for himself.

"We'll talk about manners another time Ki', if you don't mind" Hoseok said "I.M I need an update on the situation, I'm in the basement like planned and the alert was given."

"There's a group of ten coming your way, ten others are heading towards Ki's position. So far I'll be able the slow them down for..... five to ten minutes if I'm lucky. You'll have to be quick."

"We stick to the plan, I'm getting the blueprints, Ki, you and your men clear the way for us to get out, and then we get the fuck out of here. " Hoseok said and the two other hummed in his ear.

"Stay safe everyone." I.M finally said and the buzzing in Hoseok's ear stopped, meaning that it was time. He raised his left hand.

When Hoseok lowered his hand, his men got up from their positions and started to move, letting Hoseok at the front of the line.

They needed those blueprints.

                                                                                                 

                                     - 10 hours later-

 

Fresh air. He needed some fucking fresh air.

If the mission was a success, it was not one for Hoseok. Him and Kihyun went with twenty other rebels to get the blueprints of the government's power plants, but only nine of them came back. So no, for Hoseok it was not a success. As soon as he got back from the mission, he went to his room, took the keys of his car and went for a drive to clear his mind, ignoring Kihyun who was yelling at him to stay and continue the work they had started.

An hour maybe passed since he started driving through the outskirts of the city, watching the devastated buildings, where “the poor” were living, the outcasts, the one who could not afford happiness, a big house and prestigious schools for their children.. The ones who were rejected by Alpha. Condemned to live in poverty, the dream of a better life hidden behind the wall that was protecting the city. Most of the people living there were working in the Alpha's factories, were paid a misery and overworked, with the only hope to, one day, be able to give their families a better life. Hoseok had been one of them, before, living with his parents and older brother in a half collapsed house, until the day his parents both died in an accident that happened in the factory they were working in, leaving both his brother and himself behind, without any resources to live. Hoseok was twelve, his brother sixteen.

Since that day his hatred for Alpha kept on growing, every day a bit more, so when he heard about a group of rebels, he joined them despite his brother telling him not to. With the rebels, learned how to survive, how to hold a gun properly and he soon discovered that he was good, trustworthy and made for that life. Hoseok was now 25 and the faceless leader of the rebellion, going by the name of Wonho. He was the icon of new generation since the previous failed, he was full of power and kindness at the same time, he was the pride of the rebels, even if he never really wanted that name.. He grew up in the rebellion, they were his family now, and he was ready to sacrifice everything for them.

It took him a few seconds to get back to reality and to notice that his earpiece was buzzing again, Hoseok sighed and touched his ear, a small glitching screen appearing in front of his left eye. He recognised Kihyun’s face immediately, traits tired and tense, his ashy brown locks falling messily on his forehead, a cigarette between his chapped lips.

“You better come back before I get angry for real. “ the man said, voice sharp and annoyed.

“I needed some air, I’m on my way back.“ Hoseok calmly answered, a small smirk on his lips.

“You always need to get fresh air Hoseok. “ Kihyun sighed loudly, taking his cigarette between his fingers to tap away the ashes. “Not that I don’t understand but we kinda need you here. Stop putting me in those kind of situations. “ the younger man added.

 

Hoseok felt a bit guilty at Kihyun’s words. The man was his best friend, his right arm, the only person he would trust with his life.. He was always there to cover up Hoseok’s moments of.. Vulnerability, and the latter sometimes wondered if Kihyun was invincible..

 

“Sorry. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes, call Minhyuk, tell him to get everything ready for the meeting, I’ll meet you there.” Hoseok said, foot pressing on the pedal to get faster.

A small smile appeared on Kihyun’s lips and he nodded.

“Fifteen minute, not one more. If you’re late you’ll pay me a beer.” the man added before laughing, tucking the cigarette back between his lips and ending the video call.

 

Hoseok scoffed and drove his way to meet Kihyun and the rest of the important members of the rebellion at Minhyuk’s bar. As he looked in the in the rearview mirror, he saw the city and the gigantic buildings and skyscrapers behind the wall, and all those lights illuminating them as the night was slowly setting. The man sighed, running a hand in his soft brown hair before looking at the picture he had taped on his dashboard, a picture of him and his older brother before their parents died. Their smiles were wide, eyes disappearing into crescents moons, happiness radiating from them as his brother was giving a piggyback ride to the younger version of Hoseok.. His dark orbs looked at the picture for a few seconds before turning back to the road, he needed to hurry, there was no way he was paying for Kihyun’s beer.

 Hoseok parked his car in the small parking lot --if you could call that a parking lot, next to Minhyuk’s bar. The familiar “NEWTON” blue neon was glitching in the dark of the night and Hoseok could hear Minhyuk’s excited voice as he got out of his car, a small smile automatically appearing on his lips. When he entered the bar, the smell of alcohol and wood filled his nostrils and Minhyuk’s laugh echoed in his ears as well as Changkyun’s whining.

“Hyuuuung why do you keep on telling that story to everyone it’s not funny anymore” Changkyun whined out loud, kicking in Minhyuk’s chair.

“Listen, you trying to communicate with a dog is, and will always be one of the funniest thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life.“ the redhead laughed

“But I was 10 hyung ! I don’t try to communicate with dogs anymore !” the younger said, getting up to fill his pint of beer.

“You still howled when you were drunk last time..” Kihyun suddenly said, that eternal smirk plastered on his lips.

The latter turned his head when Hoseok closed the door behind him, brows arching sarcastically.

“Look at what we have here. Isn’t that Wonho the intimidating leader of the rebellion.” Kihyun chanted as he looked at his watch “ You’re late.” he added, his smirk being replaced by a victorious smile as he pointed at the chair next to his for Hoseok the sit down. A few other members of the rebellion were there too.

Hoseok rolled his eyes and sat down at the table, taking off his leather jacket. “I thought we said no drinking during meetings because the last time Changkyun started howling thinking it would be a good idea to scare the dogs of the government ?”

 

Minhyuk roared with laughter again and Changkyun facepalmed behind the bar, his pint of beer in hand.

“Fuck you hyung, I thought I could trust you.” he sighed as he came back to the table, sitting between Kihyun and Minhyuk.

“Yeah fine you’ll just pay for my drinks after the meeting has ended, don’t think you can get away with it after the trouble you caused me today.” Kihyun said, his serious voice calming Minhyuk who was now wiping the tears under his eyes. Hoseok made a face, mouthing a “I’m sorry” to a stubborn Kihyun.

 “Anyway, back to business” Hoseok said, suddenly taking his role of leader. Kihyun reached for the sport bag behind his chair and both Minhyuk and Changkyun straightened in their chairs. “We managed to get three blueprints out of the five power plants of Alpha.” Kihyun took the blueprints out of his bag and placed them on the table for everyone to see, Changkyun instantly reaching for one to study it.

“Our plan was to get the five but it’s better than nothing. We’ve lost eleven guys today and two other are badly injured, still, it could have been worse without the surprise effect.” Kihyun continued, scratching the back of his neck. “Now our priority is to find some back up, more weapons and ammos, our goal is to take down the three power plants by the end of the month, if we manage to do so, we have a chance to get into the headquarters of the government. We will have to be quick and efficient. It’s not going to be easy and we might lose a lot of men during the mission.”

Some men in the room nodded, as well as Changkyun and Minhyuk.

 

Hoseok got up, hands on the table.

“We need everyone to give their everything into that mission, that’s probably our last chance to take Alpha down. Kim, I want you to find new recruits, not younger than 16, we need to mobilise as much people as we can. Lee, you’ll train them and take care of finding them a place to stay if they need to. Cho, get in touch with our suppliers, ask them what they can do for us, tell them to be quick, we cannot afford to lose time. Changkyun, you take care of studying the blueprints and do your magic, we’ll mostly need you during d-day. Minhyuk, as always, tell us everything you hear about the dogs of Alpha.” the brown haired man said seriously, making eyes contact with all of the persons he mentioned. “And most importantly, everyone, stay safe.” he ended his speech with that smile, the one that make everyone trust him, that make everyone feel protected, because after all, he was Wonho the “protector” of the people, the leader of the rebellion, the key to liberty.


	2. The Soldier

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone !  
> In this chapter we'll learn a bit more about the characters !  
> I hope you'll enjoy reading it !  
> I recommend listening to "The Glitch Mod - Take me with you" if you want some background music while reading !

It was late when the last rebels left the bar and only Hoseok remained to help Changkyun and Minhyuk to clean to bar while a pretty much drunk and half asleep Kihyun was sitting on a chair, looking at the ceiling, eyes half lidded and slightly red, the four first buttons of his shirt open and feet resting on the table. Hoseok ended up paying for Kihyun’s beer but the latter had drank way more than necessary.

“He’s going to be so grumpy tomorrow.” Changkyun murmured next to Hoseok as he was cleaning a glass.  
“Is there one day when he’s not grumpy thought ?” Minhyuk answered and the three of them chuckled at the same time, Hoseok turning back to look at Kihyun. 

Kihyun lived on the edge, all the time. As long as Hoseok had known him, Kihyun has always been like that. Extreme.  
The first time they had met, Hoseok was fifteen and Kihyun fourteen. Kihyun was a new recruit and not much of a talker, mostly staying alone in a corner, picking at his fingers and looking by the window with a blank expression. He was alone, all the time, and Hoseok hated this, he hated the dark aura that was surrounding the younger boy.  
Hoseok got to him one day, with a piece of bread and his toothy smile. This day Kihyun opened up to him and Hoseok learned that Kihyun had just lost his parents and his little sister. Unlike him Kihyun was not living in the outskirts of the city but in the residential areas of Alpha, on the other side of the wall. His dad was an important business man and his mom a teacher. According to Kihyun his dad started to have doubts about the the government and, a few weeks later he died in a car crash, with his wife and daughter…  
“It’s not a coincidence” Kihyun had told Hoseok, his eyes filled with tears of anger. “They killed them, Alpha killed them, they killed my sister.. I want them to pay, so I ran away to the outskirts to find the rebels…. Alpha need to pay for what they did to my family.”and Kihyun explained how he escaped from the city and ended up living in a bar for a while with a boy named Minhyuk and his cousin Changkyun, who kindly accepted to let him stay before he joined the rebellion. Since that day, Hoseok became Kihyun’s only friend in the rebellion, because Hoseok was the only one with enough patience to calm down Kihyun during his panic attacks, to stop him during his moments of anger or to let the younger man sneak into his room at four in the morning because of an nth nightmare. Hoseok was the only one allowed to see Kihyun breaking down, and the only one allowed to comfort him.

Kihyun had nothing to lose anymore, at least that was what Hoseok was thinking, there was no in between with him ; it was all, or nothing.  
So Hoseok smiled, still looking at a half asleep Kihyun, mouth open and head threw back. 

“Yeah, and I’ll have to drive him back.” he said, voice low as he finished to clean his table, throwing his duster to Minhyuk. “We’ll talk to you soon, try to make low profile for a bit, Alpha’s probably going to start a new witch hunt after today.” 

“Yes sir !” Minhyuk answered with a smirk and Hoseok rolled his eyes, snapping his fingers in front of Kihyun, making the other jerk in his seat. “Get up, I’m not going to carry you to the car, you’ve become too heavy for that.” he said with a smile and Kihyun groaned, getting up slowly.

“Fuck off.” were the only words that left Kihyun’s lips as they exited the bar and once again, Hoseok could hear Minhyuk’s laugh from the outside, helping Kihyun to walk to the car.  
He helped the younger to get in and fastened his seatbelt before seating behind the wheel. He turned on the engine and started to drive them back to the headquarters of the rebellion. Only the sound of the engine was heard, it was almost appeasing, until Kihyun shifted in his seat and groaned again. Hoseok looked over at Kihyun quickly before paying attention back to the road, a small smile arching his lips.

“If you throw up in my car you’ll be the one cleaning.” the brown haired man said jokingly and Kihyun scoffed at the statement before sighing.  
“That was a hell of a day” the younger finally said, and Hoseok only hummed as an answer.

Silence took place between them once again, outside, the buildings were looking even more eerie than during the day, some lights were spotted --probably some people making a fire to stay warm, and kids were still outside..  
“What will you do of your brother if we manage to take Alpha down ?” Kihyun suddenly asked, and when Hoseok looked at the younger once again, his eyes were fixed on the picture on his dashboard. Kihyun was the only person knowing that Hoseok’s brother was a soldier for Alpha.  
“I don’t even know if he’s still alive Ki’.” Hoseok answered calmly  
“But if he is ?” the other insisted and Hoseok tightened his grip on the wheel.  
“I don’t know Ki’, I really don’t know.”  
Kihyun only hummed in response, letting his head rest against the window, eyes closing slowly.  
Hoseok looked at the picture again and back at the rearview mirror, the lights of the city were shining brightly, and for the first time in a long time he wondered if his brother was still alive. 

………

[Headquarters of Alpha]

“I can’t believe he managed to lock me out of the system again.” a blonde man said angrily, storming down the plain white hallway “I’ve been trained my whole life for that, I’m the best hacker of Alpha, it’s not possible.” he continued, voice echoing loudly in the hallway.

Behind him a tall and lanky man was following, hands in the pockets of his white blouse, glasses perched low on his nose and black hair neatly combed.  
“Stop raging against it Jooheon, plus, he did not lasted long against you did he ?” the man said, voice low and nonchalant.  
“It’s not you who see your salary being reduced because of a hacker from the countryside.” the guy named Jooheon scoffed, turning to look back at the taller man. “I hope Shownu kills that fucker once they find when the rebels are hiding.”  
“Is he mad because of the rebels’ hacker again ?” another voice echoed and the two other men turned back at the newcomer, both of them bowing before the taller one answered.  
“Yeah, and he wants you to eliminate is little concurrent, please do, I can’t stand hearing him complaining about it all day long.” 

Shownu smiled slightly, looking at the blonde who was obviously sulking.  
“Actually” he started “ that might happen sooner than expected.”  
“What do you mean ?” Jooheon asked, suddenly interested.  
“One of our sources told us that a bar in the outskirts closes one night every now and then for no obvious reason and that it might be a meeting point for the rebels. Alpha will probably send a squad there during the week. Hyungwon, we might need you and your guys too, we don’t know what the rebels are hiding in there. “

The taller one nodded seriously, one of his hands clenching in the pocket of his white blouse. 

“We have the order to neutralise every individuals that shows resistance so I’ll only kill your hacker if he’s there and tries to escape.” Shownu smiled again and Jooheon sighed, making the older laugh. “Come on, we all know that J.Bee is the best hacker of Alpha.  
“Still, that I.M dude managed to lock me out of the system multiple times, that’s insulting.” the blonde insisted and Hyungwon rolled his eyes, patting Jooheon’s shoulder.

“Stop sulking and get back to work or you little friend is really going to take the first place.” he said and the younger groaned before waving at the two other, making his way down the hallway.

Jooheon disappeared in the hallway and Hyungwon scoffed, turning his gaze back to Shownu. The other man seemed deep in thought and Hyungwon frowned, waving his hand in front of the other’s eyes.  
“Earth to Shownu ? Hey, are you okay ?”  
Shownu came back to his senses, shaking his head a little before laughing a bit nervously.  
“Yeah, I’m fine thank you, Alpha is really bothered by the rebels issue, they’re getting bolder and more powerful, Alpha wants me to take care of it as soon as possible. “ the brown haired man said and the other hummed, making a face.  
“Understandable. Make sure to reach for me if you need, I’ll prepare the medic team the best I can.”  
Shownu nodded his head, a thankful expression on his face. “Thanks Hyungwon.” 

Hyungwon smiled and waved goodbye at Shownu before making his way out of the building, heading back to his apartment. 

The city was bright and noisy despite the late hour, people were coming home, or going to work. Everyone was always busy, running, working, studying.. It was never ending, as if nobody was sleeping, never.  
Hyungwon had got rid of his work clothes and was hugging his coat close to his body, if the weather was hot during the day it was definitely colder at night.  
Hyungwon was living close to the Headquarters of Alpha, in a luxurious apartment with one of the best view of the city. It was the price for being the chef of the best medic unit of Alpha. At twenty three, Hyungwon was probably considered as an overachiever, but his goal has always been to be a part of the Elite of Alpha, because when you’re a part of the Elite, you’re safe. At least it was what Hyungwon thought, but he soon discovered the dark sides of Alpha, and now, he was wondering what he was really doing with his life.  
Hyungwon sighed and leaned his face close to the biometric detector of the front door, letting it scan his face before it opened with a click.  
The light automatically lighted up and Hyungwon was welcomed by the soft moews of his cat, the pet turning around Hyungwon’s legs, rubbing it’s face against his ankles.  
He smiled softly, taking off his shoes and coat, taking the small animal in his arms. 

“Yeah I missed you too buddy..” the dark haired man sighed, affectionately scratching the cat’s head before putting it down.  
He changed into more comfy clothes after taking a boiling hot shower, lying in his bed. He closed his eyes… When was the last time he even got to lay in his bed and had a proper night of sleep ?  
His cat was lying at his feet, curling into a ball and purring softly. He was having the life he always wanted, he was safe.. Even if the way Alpha were handling certain issues was… more than questionable, he was safe. He was.

 

…………………

A few days passed since the rebellion had put the hand on the blueprints and everyone was busy with their tasks, the headquarters buzzing like an anthill. Hoseok needed to meet with some of the allies of the rebellion to make sure they will have their support, and even if he needed to pull his intimidating card sometimes --wich was making Kihyun smile behind him, most of their allies were going to give them their support. So far, everything was going according to their plan.

“I was planning on going at Minhyuk’s to meet with Changkyun, he said he’d got something, you’re coming ?” Hoseok asked Kihyun as both of them were coming back from an nth meeting with their handguns suppliers.  
“Nah” Kihyun answered as he was lighting a cigarette, taking a long drag of it before exhaling “I still need to take care of a lot of things, we got more new recruits than anticipated, the rebellion is victim of your success. Mister The Protector.” Kihyun laughed, playfully elbowing Hoseok in the side.  
Hoseok scoffed a that, leaning to take Kihyun’s cigarette between his fingers before throwing it on the ground, earning an offended yelp from Kihyun.  
“What was that for ? Do you know how much it cost me to get these ?!”  
“You’re already slow enough when you run, no need to destroy your lungs on top of it.” Hoseok smiled and the younger facepalmed, elbowing him once again.  
“It’s none of your business Hoseok. I can handle myself.”  
“Sure.” Hoseok said, giving Kihyun an unconvicted look.  
Kihyun let out a loud “tsk” before shaking his head, heading to his car.  
“Say Hi to Changkyun and Minhyuk for me, while I scare the newbies.” the man said, taking his packet of cigarettes from the back pocket of his jeans.  
Hoseok shook his head, looking at Kihyun’s back as the other was getting into his car, a little cloud of smoke escaping his lips. 

It was dusk when Hoseok got to the bar, and the first thing he noticed was how pale Minhyuk was, standing behind the counter. The other man still flashed him his brightest smile, stopping what he was doing and wiping his hands on his apron. 

“Changkyun is upstairs” the redhead said, nodding his head towards the stairs at the back of the room.  
Hoseok hummed, looking at the stairs for a second before looking back at Minhyuk, eyebrows furrowed.  
“You don’t look so good, something happened ?” he said softly and Minhyuk sighed, leaning against the counter.  
“Since the rebellion took the blueprints, Alpha reduced the food supplies for everyone. There’s not many customers...”  
“You should come over the the HQ we have enough food for you and Changkyun” Hoseok said, worry obvious in his voice, but Minhyuk shook his head with a small smile.  
“Thanks but… Wouldn’t it be a little suspicious of we were not hungry like the rest of the people living in the area ? It’ll be fine, don’t worry, and your men needs it more than us.”

Hoseok made a face. Minhyuk was looking weak and tired, the dark circles under his eyes a deep shade of purple, contrasting with the pale skin.  
“Okay” Hoseok sighed, nodding slightly before heading towards the stairs. “Still, you and Changkyun are as important as every members of the rebellion, officials are not.” he went up the first steps and looked back at his friend who gave him the thumbs-up, going back behind his counter. 

Hoseok could hear the angry typing of Changkyun behind one of the only two doors of the floor and knocked on the door three times before opening it.  
Here was Changkyun, hunched over his computer, four screens were lighting up the room and some heavy dubstep music was blasting through the boy’s headphones. When he noticed Hoseok’s presence in the room, Changkyun took off his headphones and yawned loudly.  
“What a way to greet me.” Hoseok snarled and the raven boy scoffed, stretching on his chair.  
“Sorry, stayed up all night to hack Alpha’s database. J.Bee is a pain in the ass. “ the younger whined and motioned for Hoseok to sit on his bed.  
“You told me you’ve found something.”  
“Yeah actuall--”

Changkyun was cut off by a loud sound from downstairs and both of them exchanged a look before Hoseok got up, taking his gun out of the holster he was hiding under his leather jacket.  
Minhyuk’s voice could be heard as well as another one, a male voice. Hoseok carefully got out of the room and mouthed at Changkyun to stay here and to be quiet, slowly getting down the stairs. 

“I don’t care that you’re from Alpha, the bar is open at 7pm, come back when it’s open, like everyone.” Minhyuk said, his annoyed voice tainted with panic.  
“I won’t take long.” the man said, the sound of a chair being dragged following his words. “We know that you close the bar four times a month. Why ?”  
“I don’t have the money to open the bar every day. People here are dying from hunger, even more since Alpha restricted the access to food supplies, coming here it the least of their problems. “ Minhyuk dryly answered and the other man scoffed.  
“Blame the rebels for that, not Alpha." the man paused "Talking about the rebels.. We know that they’re quite active in that area, and something makes me think you’re related to them, in a way.”

Hoseok could see Minhyuk tensing even more from where he was, and so did the man.  
“If you came here to accuse me of being a rebel you’re losing your time.”  
“Stop lying, Lee Minhyuk. You have better time to tell me what you know, unless you want to end up in one of Alpha’s prisons ? Or should I ask your cousin ?”

Hoseok tried to see the man’s face but he couldn’t expose himself, not now. 

“Changkyun has nothing to do with that.” Minhyuk spat.  
“So there’s something you have to tell me.” the other man said, victorious, and Minhyuk looked like a deer caught in headlights.  
The man got up from the chair he was sitting on and took a few steps towards Minhyuk. That’s the moment Hoseok choose the quickly get down the stairs, crossing the room in quick steps, the barrel of his gun resting at the back of the man’s head. 

“He told you to get out.” Hoseok’s voice echoed in the room. The tension in the room became thicker, almost palpable, and the man remained motionless. “Minhyuk, go upstairs.” Minhyuk gave him a concerned look but did as he was told, quickly getting up the stairs. Silence filled the room for a few seconds and Hoseok could feel his heart beating in his throat.

“Raise your hands, turn around, and slowly move towards the door, don’t make anything silly.” Hoseok added and the man hesitated before raising his hands and turning around. 

When Hoseok was finally able to see the man’s face, it seemed like the time stopped and he felt dizzy. He could recognise that face better than anyone, he was still looking the same, only the time has changed his traits slightly… Older, colder and taller than the last time he saw him. Hoseok gripped his gun tighter as his stomach twisted.  
“Hyunwoo..”  
“It’s been a long time, Hoseok.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hehe the plot thickens a bit !  
> The next chapter might take a bit longer to update since I'll be on a trip to the UK for the second half of June but I've already wrote most of it !  
> As always, I'll be super grateful if you leave a comment ! Kudos are welcomed too !  
> See y'all for the next update !  
> you can find me on twitter : @snowonnie


	3. The Connection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi !  
> Sorry for the late update, as said in the last note I was pretty busy these past two weeks, but here is the third chapter !  
> A lot of things happens in that one that why it's a bit longer than the previous ones !  
> Things are also becoming spicy but please be lenient with me as... smut is not really the easiest thing to write for me hehe,,,  
> This is roughly beta-d so I'm really sorry for any mistakes,,  
> Anyway, Enjoy !

Hoseok couldn’t tell how much time passed as he looked at his brother in the eyes, still aiming his gun at him. It has been years, more than ten years since he last saw him, and their last encounter as still a painful memory for Hoseok.  
Hyunwoo was looking at him, his unexpressive eyes boring right into Hoseok’s soul. He was a bit taller than him, a bit broader too, his brown hair were styled up neatly, and his skin was almost glowing with health, unlike most of the people living in the outskirts. 

“Glad to see you’re still alive.” Hyunwoo started and Hoseok frowned immediately.  
“You have nothing to do here Hyunwoo, go back to the city and leave them alone.”  
“I’m doing my job and I have all the rights to be here actually” Hyunwoo scoffed sarcastically “I was hoping to find you here.”  
“How many guys are waiting outside to shoot us dead ?” Hoseok ignored, approaching one of the window, his gun still aimed at Hyunwoo.  
“I came alone, Hoseok.”  
The younger gave him a sceptical gaze, even if Hyunwoo was his brother, they were not on the same side, not anymore, he had to be careful.  
“Go back from where you’re coming there’s nothing to see, unless you want to see what Alpha is doing to the people here.” Hoseok bitterly said, heading to the front door to open it carefully, motioning to Hyunwoo to get out with his gun. “And leave them alone, their life is hard enough already.” 

Hyunwoo sighed, looking around before slowly crossing the room to get to the door. “I should have known that you were still a part of them.” disappointment and maybe a hint of sadness were tainting his voice. The older man stopped his tracks once he was at Hoseok’s level, looking at him in the eyes. “I could have killed both of you if I wanted to, and you know I won’t come back alone the next time, Hoseok. Tell your boss or whatever, that the higher ups of Alpha are mad, really mad.”  
He stepped out of the bar, turning his back to Hoseok. “If I were you I’ll tell all my little friends to be prepared. I won’t spare you the next time we meet, little bro.”  
Hoseok remained silent, looking at his brother as he was getting in his car.  
Just like that Hyunwoo left, leaving Hoseok standing by the door of the bar, his gun now lowered. All the memories of his childhood with Hyunwoo were coming back in his mind, flashing painfully before his eyes. If only…

“Hoseok ?” Changkyun’s voice called softly behind him and he turned around.  
The brown haired man turned around to see Minhyuk and Changkyun approaching him and he noticed that Minhyuk was holding a gun with shaky hands.  
“Are you okay ?” Hoseok asked softly and Changkyun nodded.  
“You.. never told us.. about that.. Is anyone… Aware of that ?” Changkyun spoke up again and Hoseok felt his stomach twisting a bit more, knowing that the younger was referring to Hyunwoo.  
“Kihyun. Kihyun knows… Listen, I'm sorry you had to witness that but you can’t stay here anymore.” Hoseok put his gun back in his holster and ran a nervous hands through his hair, leaving them in a mess.  
“Kyun, go get you computers, save everything you can on it and destroy the rest.”  
“Changkyun go but I’m staying here” Minhyuk suddenly said “I don’t care if they come back I can’t leave the bar like that. I’ll be fine.”  
Hoseok shook his head quickly. “I can’t let you do that Minhyuk and even if I do you know that Kihyun will come back to drag you out of the bar if he needs to.” 

The older man never really knew what happened between Kihyun and Minhyuk during the time they lived together, but Kihyun had always strongly reacted when something happened to the redhead.  
At the mention of Kihyun’s name Minhyuk frowned, looking away for a second before sighing.  
“If I leave, Alpha will find their way to you, your brother already know you’re a part of it, it’ll be way too suspicious. However he did not saw Changkyun and you need him more than you need me, I’m staying here, Kihyun will understand. The bar has been in my family for decades I can't just.. abandon everything.” the redhead calmly said, pushing his cousin towards the stairs when the latter was about to protest.  
“Go get your things and go with Hoseok, we will keep in touch don’t worry for me okay ? I’ve seen worse than a few dogs of Alpha barking at my door.” he smiled and Changkyun gave him a defeated look before going upstairs.  
Hoseok was silently looking at the scene, unable to hide how upset he was. Minhyuk sighed and went behind the counter, leaving his gun on it before rearranging the bottles of alcohols.  
“I’ll keep you updated on the situation here.”  
“Promise me to reach for us if things are getting too dangerous here.” Hoseok simply added and Minhyuk smiled softly before nodding his head.  
“I will.”

A few minutes later Hoseok was driving Changkyun to the headquarters after the younger informed Kihyun of the situation, the drive was silent, both of them too deep in thoughts to talk. Hoseok was thinking about Hyunwoo and how much the other man changed over the past years, long was gone the kind and caring brother he remembered..  
The brown haired man sighed, their strong brotherhood had disappeared the day Hyunwoo announced to Hoseok he had enlisted in Alpha’s army anyway.

When Hoseok and Changkyun stepped inside the headquarters they were immediately welcomed by a fulming Kihyun.

“I’ve got Kyun’s message, where is Minhyuk.” the grey haired man spat, eyes boring daggers in Hoseok’s soul.  
“He stayed at the bar.” Changkyun answered calmly, “Someone needs to stay there to not bring any more suspicions.”  
“Bullshit.” Kihyun said as he stormed past the two other man and Changkyun was quick to hold him by the arm.  
“Hyung listen, I’m not pleased that he’s alone there either, but if Minhyuk suddenly disappears after that, Alpha will only get more suspicious and we cannot risk for them to find us. Not now. He knows what he’s doing.”  
Kihyun looked at the younger, staying silent but his eyes burning with worry and anger.  
“Trust him, hyung, He’ll be fine, we are not leaving him behind.” Changkyun added softly, loosening his grip on Kihyun’s arm as the other man was not moving anymore..  
A few seconds passed where none of them spoke a word, Kihyun closed his eyes and breathed out loudly before opening his eyes again and looking at Hoseok.

“Okay.. Okay fine.” 

Hoseok gave him a small smile before looking around for something, letting a little “ah” when he spotted what he wanted.  
“Gunhee !” Hoseok called and a man turned around, chewing on his chewing gum without any discretion.  
“Yeah boss ?” the man answered from his spot, hands in his pockets.  
“Can you help Changkyun setting his stuffs in the local and find him a spot to sleep ?” 

Gunhee eyed Changkyun curiously and the younger rubbed his hand on his neck, a bit nervous to be surrounded by so many strangers. Finally Gunhee smiled cheekily, nodding his head and motioning to Changkyun to come.  
“Sure !” 

Hoseok patted Changkyun’s shoulder, giving him a small smile. “We’ll see you later, tell me if he annoys you.”  
Changkyun smiled back at him and glanced quickly at Kihyun before leaving with Gunhee.  
It’s not until Changkyun disappeared from the hallway that Kihyun sighed.

“Sometimes I wonder what's happening in your head.”  
“Excuse me ?” Hoseok frowned  
“What the fuck crossed your fucking mind Hoseok ?! Letting a Alpha guard see you ? See Minhyuk ? And letting him go ?!” anger started to boil again in Kihyun’s body.

Hoseok looked around, breathing a “not here” before grabbing Kihyun by the arm and heading towards his office, locking the door after them.

“And what do you wanted me to do ? Kill him ? Just so Alpha have the confirmation that Minhyuk is linked to us ?” Hoseok asked, crossing his arms on his chest. Kihyun scoffed loudly, shaking his head.  
“You’re putting everyone in danger now because you couldn’t set your feelings aside and get rid of him.”  
“It has nothing to do with the fact he's my brother Kihyun. An--”  
“Stop trying to find an excuse !” Kihyun spat angrily, approaching Hoseok to push him against the door “Stop trying to hide behind the fact that he’s your brother ! I know you more than you know yourself Hoseok. Your role is to protect the people here, to lead them. Your brother is NOT on our side and because you couldn’t prioritise what was important ,hundreds if not thousands of people are even more in danger than they already are !” Kihyun kept on pushing Hoseok with his index with every words. “He won’t hesitate to shoot you in the head next time ! He won’t ! He’s a soldier, a dog of the government ! He’ll kill each one of us if Alpha asked him too, rebel or not, and you know it !” the younger was breathless and for the first time Hoseok was not able to answer him. Kihyun was shaking from head to toes and Hoseok could see all the worry in his eyes. The smaller man was terrified. Terrified for his friends, for the rebellion.. Kihyun noticed that Hoseok has went silent and he scoffed again, stepping back.

“You shouldn't had let him go. At least you could have.. I don’t know… Bring him there by force, I’m pretty sure he knows a lot of useful things that we could have used against Alpha.” the younger pushed him slightly on the side, unlocking the door and opening it, Kihyun’s eyes found his again and the younger stepped out of the room without breaking the eyes contact. 

“If something happens to Minhyuk I’ll kill your brother myself.” 

After that Hoseok didn’t saw Kihyun of the evening, the other man was nowhere to be found and Hoseok did not tried to find him either. Kihyun was right in a way and he knew that the younger needed time, talking to him now would only worsen the situation, so the older man spent his evening with Changkyun, showing him around the base, introducing him to a few people so the boy wouldn’t be lonely if Hoseok or Kihyun were not there.. Changkyun was far from being a social butterfly like his cousin, but Hoseok could see that he was trying.

It was close to one in the morning when Hoseok closed the door of his room, letting himself fall on his bed, still wearing his clothes from the day. The room was small and minimalist, with just a single bed, a desk, a nightstand and a wardrobe, the moonlight shining through the only window just above the bed.  
Hoseok’s head was throbbing painfully, exhaustion taking over his body and causing his hands to shake a little. Too many things were on his mind, Alpha was starting to feel threatened by the rebellion and things were going to be even more complicated, they had to be careful, Hyunwoo was alive and probably one of the biggest danger, Minhyuk was alone and Kihyun....  
He sighed, all those things were colliding inside of his head, buzzing in his ears. The man turned on his side, grunting, knees close to his chest and he closed his eyes, hoping that all the exhaustion would take over him quickly. Falling asleep has always been one of his biggest struggle, but he needed at least a few hours to clear his mind and be able to take decisions again. He had the life of thousands of people in his hands, there was no place for mistakes.

He couldn't tell how much time passed before he heard a knock on his door… Ten minutes, one hour, two hours.. He had lost track of time, alternating between light sleep and moments of consciousness.  
Hoseok didn't reacted thought, his mind clouded with sleep, and the door opened slowly, someone entering it without making any sound. It's only when the door made a click after being closed that Hoseok opened his eyes and grabbed the gun under his pillow.

“It's me…” a low voice echoed in the room and Hoseok sighed, letting his gun under the pillow before turning around.

Kihyun was standing by the door, his arms crossed on his chest. He was wearing a long blue t-shirt and a pair of black shorts that were reaching mid thighs, a pair of glasses were perched on his nose --sign that Kihyun has been reading, and his hair were softly curled on his on his forehead.  
The man sighed, letting his back rest against the door, not looking at Hoseok in the eyes.

“I can't sleep" he simply said and Hoseok blinked a few time before nodding, shuffling closer to the wall before patting the spot next to him on the bed.

Kihyun didn't hesitate to take the few steps that were separating him from the bed and climbed on it. The warmth of another body caused Hoseok to close his eyes, waiting until Kihyun got comfortable on the bed to wrap an arm around the younger’s waist. Hoseok smiled for himself when he felt Kihyun's hair tickling his chin, his hand absentmindedly sneaking under his shirt to caress over the skin of Kihyun's belly. The bed was small but the younger was not taking that much place, Kihyun's smaller frame fitting perfectly in Hoseok's arms.

It wasn't unusual, for them to sleep together, was it for not being able to sleep or seek some comfort. There was no place or time for those kind of things in the world they were living in, but Kihyun and Hoseok had found each other. It was shy, at first, it was just them cuddling under the sheets of Hoseok's bed after a rough day, or Kihyun sneaking in Hoseok’s room during one of those night were he couldn't sleep because of his nightmares. Kihyun would cry himself to sleep in Hoseok’s arms and Hoseok was here to calm him down, making sure that the younger was falling asleep, looking over him the whole night. It was full of innocence. They were just taking care of each others.

Everything changed after a particular day that no one in the rebellion could forget, the day Alpha had found one of their base and massacred most of the rebels here.  
Hoseok was nineteen and Kihyun eighteen when it happened, and he didn't know if it was because of the fear of dying that they felt that day but at night, when Kihyun got inside his room, he locked the door after him and climbed on the bed without a word, straddling Hoseok's thighs, his eyes unreadable.  
Hoseok had held Kihyun so close that night, so close that he had felt Kihyun's heartbeat against his naked skin. And Hoseok discovered that, if Kihyun was his first, he was not Kihyun's, the younger knowing what he was doing, guiding Hoseok.  
But it didn't matter for Hoseok, because Kihyun had been panting in his ear how good Hoseok was feeling inside of him, he discovered new sensations when Kihyun scratched his back as he was getting close to climax.. It was like if his senses were all in alert, and every sound, every touch and every scents were pure bliss. 

Hoseok grew to like the feeling of Kihyun's skin against his and how vulnerable the younger was with him when nobody was around. He learned every curves of the younger’s body by heart, where to touch and kiss in order the earn sweet whines and moans from the younger.  
Kihyun was a man full of anger, of frustration, commanding and impatient, and he was rough, sometimes, pushing Hoseok up against the wall and leaving bright red marks on his stomach and chest. And Hoseok was smooth and caring, taking his sweet time to make the younger shiver in pleasure, making him melt in his arms with every touch and sweet words. It was as if Hoseok was the only one able to calm the constant fire of anger in Kihyun's mind.

They silently agreed on keeping this secret, everyone knew they were close but there was no need for them to know more and to this day, they never really talked about what they were.. If they were even something.

The silence was comfortable between them and only the sound of their breathing could be heard for a long moment.  
Hoseok was slowly drifting back to sleep when Kihyun slowly turned around in his arms, throwing a leg on top of Hoseok's hip. The older closed his eyes and kept his hand under Kihyun's shirt, stroking his back slowly. Kihyun's hot breath was fanning on the crook of his neck in a regular pattern for a few moment before the younger titled his head to place his lips on the skin of Hoseok's neck. The brown haired man sighed at the action, a small smile appearing on his lips. The younger continued to place small kisses on his neck, shifting in Hoseok’s arms so he could reach under his jaw, nibbling at the sensitive spot.

Hoseok could feel the shiver on his skin and slowly moved away from Kihyun so he could look at him. The latter looked up at him, and Hoseok smiled again, taking off Kihyun's glasses and leaning over him to place them carefully on the nightstand. 

Kihyun was never the one to openly apologise or admit that he was wrong, first because he rarely was wrong and second because it was simply not in his nature to word out apologies. Kihyun had no filter, the words raw when they were leaving his lips. He was like that and no one could change him.  
But Hoseok was not the type to hold grudges and when he looked down at the younger after taking off his glasses, he could see in his eyes that he was sorry for what happened earlier.  
Kihyun also hated to get mad at Hoseok, he hated that he had to smack some senses back to the older man by saying hurtful words. Because Hoseok was kind, too kind for his own good behind his intimidating appearance and sometimes, he needed to come back to reality, to let his feelings aside and think strategy.

They looked at each other in silence, Hoseok slightly leaning over the younger man, his hand still grazing over the smooth skin of Kihyun's back.  
Maybe it was his imagination but Hoseok swore he saw something flashing in Kihyun's eyes before the younger wrapped his arms around his shoulder to bring him flush against him, and he could feel the other's heart hammering in his chest.  
Hoseok was a little taken aback by Kihyun's sudden action but he still hugged the younger.

“Are you okay ?” he murmured in the younger’s ear but Kihyun only hummed in response, tangling their legs together as if he was scared that Hoseok would leave any moments.  
“Why aren't you able to sleep ? Did you had another nightmare ?”  
Kihyun tensed under him and nodded again. 

Hoseok frowned and moved his free hand to cup Kihyun‘s jaw and make him look at him again.  
“I tried to ignore it but.. it's not working.” The younger explained, his hazelnut eyes boring into Hoseok's chocolate ones.  
“It's okay" Hoseok said, voice low and soothing “you can sleep now, I'm here.”  
“I don't think I can.” Kihyun quickly answered and Hoseok arched a brow. One of the younger hands grasped Hoseok's shirt a bit tighter. “It was too real. I can't.” he added and Hoseok could see that look in his eyes again, the one he can't read because there's too many things expressed at the same time.  
Kihyun slowly released his grip on Hoseok's shirt to reach for the older’s face before landing on his nape. No words were needed between them anymore, Hoseok leaned down, getting the message. He grazed his lips over Kihyun's softly before sealing them in a chaste kiss.  
He could hear Kihyun sighing under him, closing his eyes almost immediately at the contact. 

Kihyun locked his hand in Hoseok's hair as the other was deepening the kiss, softly biting into Kihyun's bottom lip before running his tongue over it for permission. Kihyun whined and gave access to Hoseok, feeling that familiar sensation in the pit of his stomach when Hoseok's tongue met his in a passionate dance.  
The kiss grew heated as Hoseok was now hovering over Kihyun, one of his legs between the other’s thighs, hands running under the younger’s t-shirt, caressing the smooth skin of Kihyun's abdomen and chest, rubbing over Kihyun's nipples, goosebumps blossoming at the touch. Hoseok's hands were rough and warm, creating a beautiful contrast with Kihyun's soft and slightly more tanned skin.

The younger was now squirming under Hoseok and the latter smiled softly into the kiss before breaking it to latch his lips on Kihyun's neck, nipping and sucking and kissing at the same spot until he could see the skin turning a light shade of purple.  
He then moved his lips behind Kihyun's ear, knowing full well that it was a really sensitive spot of the younger man, so he smiled against the skin when Kihyun moaned and bucked his hips, rutting against Hoseok's thighs and cursing under his breath.  
Hoseok’s hands travelled down Kihyun's torso, stopping at the waist band his shorts for a second and Kihyun whined again.

“Hoseok bloody please..” the younger breathed, hands tangled in Hoseok's hair and Hoseok chuckled, kissing the skin behind his ear one last time before he got off the younger to remove both his shorts and underwear, freeing Kihyun's half hard cock.  
One of Kihyun's hand had let go of Hoseok's hair so he could hide his face in his arm, and Hoseok was always finding that fascinating, how Kihyun was oversensitive and overwhelmed by every of his touch, how unpredictable and how quickly lost in pleasure the man was.

Hoseok then took off Kihyun's shirt before removing his own and leaned down again, placing open mouthed kiss on the younger collarbones. Kihyun grabbed Hoseok's strong biceps, his fingers absentmindedly tracing the lines of the muscles, eyes closed and shivers running down his body.  
Hoseok ran his mouth down Kihyun's torso, teasing one of his nipple with his tongue before following the defined lines of Kihyun's muscles. Despite his almost frail appearance, the younger man’s body was toned and strong, and his skin taned, small scars scattered across his body. 

Hoseok continued his way down Kihyun's torso until he reached his pelvis and smiled as one of Kihyun's hands was sliding in his hair again. Hoseok kissed the younger hips, nuzzling at the skin before running his hands on Kihyun's thighs, sighing as he placed a hand under one of Kihyun's knee to spread his legs.  
They made eyes contact for a second and Hoseok smirked at the younger as he obscenely licked the inside of Kihyun's left thigh, still holding his gaze, and Kihyun moaned loudly, throwing his head back and his hand in Hoseok's hair pulling at it roughly as he clasped the other one on his mouth to muffle his moans.  
Hoseok repeated the motion a few times, going up and down Kihyun's thigh with his tongue flat against the smooth skin, and Kihyun cursed at him, pulling at his hair again.  
“Hoseok.” his low voice called and Hoseok could hear the warning in his tone. Teasing Kihyun was his favourite part, but he decided that it was enough for now, and with his other hand, he grabbed the younger’s erection without any warning, and Kihyun groaned this time, biting his under lip and his whole body tensing.  
Hoseok started to stroke Kihyun at a slow pace, rubbing his thumb over the tip before smearing the precum that was already leaking from Kihyun’s dick. Hoseok took his time, slowly getting drunk on Kihyun's mewls before he took him in his mouth, sucking on the tip before going down on the younger’s shaft, placing his hand on Kihyun's hip to prevent him from moving his hips forward.

The grey haired man tensed again, one hand in Hoseok's hair and the other gripping the sheets. He was no more than a whimpering mess, Hoseok's mouth has always been working wonders on him.  
All the stress..the fear.. the exhaustion..everything was slowly dissipating and he soon felt all that pressure pooling down his lower body as Hoseok was fastening his pace, bobbing his head up and down, tongue flat against the sensitive skin and lips wet with spit. It was overwhelming and Kihyun knew he was getting close.

“I’m.. I'm close Hoseok..” Kihyun pulled at Hoseok's hair again and the other man hummed lowly before letting go of Kihyun's dick with a “bop".  
Kihyun didn't let the time for Hoseok to catch his breath as he pulled him into an hungry kiss, letting go of his hair to let his hands rest on Hoseok's shoulder blades, stroking at the skin.  
Hoseok was settled between the smaller man legs and Kihyun wrapped his legs around his hips to bring him flush against him, moaning as he felt Hoseok's clothed erection against his. Hoseok groaned into the kiss and shifted a little to unbuckle his belt, Kihyun's hands soon joining them to help him to get rid of his pants.  
When it was done Hoseok pressed their hips together again, both of them gasping at the feeling of their fully naked bodies flushed together before Kihyun grinds up into him.  
Kihyun wrapped his arms around Hoseok's shoulders again, placing his lips on his jaw to kiss and bit down his throat, earning some low groans from the brown haired man.

Sweet words were exchanged and they were both rocking together in a perfect pace, Kihyun caged between Hoseok's strong arm and their foreheads now pressed together. Hoseok had his eyes closed, a small frown on his face and Kihyun was looking at him in awe, a new wave of arousal hitting him at the sight. The grey haired man used one of his hands to reach between his and Hoseok's body and started to stroke both of their erections. Hoseok grunted obscenely and only pressed up against Kihyun more roughly, their pace getting faster and faster, in sync with Kihyun's hand.

As time passed their movements only got messier, Kihyun moaning right into Hoseok's ear as the older man had his face buried in Kihyun's neck. A thin layer of sweat was covering their bodies and Kihyun couldn't help but think that Hoseok was looking ethereal with the moonlight reflecting on his pale glowing skin.  
It didn't took long for Kihyun to feel his release coming and Hoseok was feeling it too, rocking roughly against the other's pelvis and in his hand.

“Come for me.” He blurted out and that was enough for Kihyun to do so. He arched his back, his grip on Hoseok's back so strong that he was leaving scratches as he came in his hand and between their torsos. Kihyun cried out Hoseok's name in a moan that was muffled behind Hoseok's hand before he blacked out for a few seconds.  
Hoseok continued to grind against the younger, opening his eyes to see Kihyun's fucked expression, and he groaned loudly, hiding his face in Kihyun's neck as he came too, his whole body shaking from the orgasm.

Only the sound of their heavy breathing filled the small room for a few minutes, both of them needing some time to recover from their orgasms. Hoseok moved first, lazily getting off Kihyun to lay on his side, running a hand through his hair as he looked over at Kihyun.  
The smaller man was looking at the ceiling, eyes half closed, mouth slightly open, hair sticking on his forehead and chest heaving now in a slow rhythm.  
Hoseok extended his hand to brush Kihyun s hair off his forehead and the younger blinked slowly before looking at Hoseok with a small smile on his lips.

“Feeling better ?” Hoseok asked as he reached for the drawer of his nightstand to get some tissues out to clean both of them.

“Hmm.” Kihyun nodded slightly, not really reacting when Hoseok was cleaning him. He closed his eyes, not taking care of his surrounding until Hoseok covered them with the covers. He hugged Hoseok's strong body, letting his head resting on the man's shoulder and he sighed softly.

“Try to rest a bit now, I'm here.” Hoseok breathed, his hand resting on Kihyun's waist, and Kihyun tried to ignore the pang in his chest as he was slowly drifting into sleep.

\----

Hoseok spent the next day in his work room to finish the project he was working on ; smoke guns filled with sleeping gas. Hoseok wasn't the one to take lives, he was the leader of the rebellion, of course, but killing was only an option when he didn't had any other choices. For their next missions, putting Alpha guards into sleep was much easier than trying to eliminate every single one of them. The rebellion had enough gas masks for everyone and one of their suppliers was ready to send them the gas they needed, he just needed to finish the gun to send to prototypes to their engineer team to produce more of them.

Kihyun had already left when he woke up in the morning and he didn't had any idea of where the younger was and what he was doing until Changkyun knocked on his door to inform him that Kihyun went to visit Minhyuk before asking if he wanted to eat lunch with him.  
Hoseok didn't liked the idea of Kihyun visiting Minhyuk, knowing that the younger was stubborn and would probably try to convince Minhyuk to come to the headquarters despite the man’s decision and that he would come back pissed and frustrated. 

A few hours later Hoseok decided to visit one of the rebellion’s base at the north of the city and took Changkyun with him because the younger claimed that he was bored and didn't feel like talking to strangers. Hoseok maybe laughed and called the man a baby but he still let him get into his car after sending a message to Kihyun to tell him he probably won't be there when he gets back from Minhyuk's.

The North Base was the third biggest regrouping of rebels, this is where most of the food was stocked before being sent to the other bases. After the restrictions coming from Alpha in terms of food had gotten worse, Hoseok needed to check on the situation.. Men can't fight properly with an empty stomach.  
As they arrived, Hoseok was met by the commander of the base, a woman named Chu Sojung who prefers to be called Exy, known for her hot temper and her liking for young attractive men.  
The woman eyes Changkyun from head to toe before smiling and inviting both men inside the base.  
“I'm not gonna lie to you ‘seok, if Alpha continues on restricting the food supplies like that it'll be hard to give at least one meal per day to everyone. I've sent some of my guys in the underground of the city to try to sneak some food from here but.. “

“How many time before we're getting in the red ?” Hoseok simply asked, walking besides Exy, Changkyun staying a bit behind then, observing the base curiously.  
“Maybe a week or two… Maybe less. We still have the gardens and the water station from the East Base but.. It won't be enough for everyone.” she answered on a serious tone before biting her lips.

Hoseok was about to answer when he felt his implant buzzing behind his ear and he groaned before tapping it, the screen opening in front of his eyes once again. Kihyun’s face appeared immediately and Hoseok didn't even got the time to ask what's wrong before Kihyun started talking, his voice urgent and shaky.  
“Hoseok, Gunhee just informed me that at least twenty vans of Alpha were spotted. They're driving down your position. They're coming to the North Base you need to get out of here now !” Kihyun blurted out and Hoseok noticed that the younger was probably running back to his car.

He exchanged a quick glance with Exy who nodded before storming down the hallway to ring the alarm.

“I told him to send you backups, I'm on my way too.”  
“Wait no you're not coming here.” Hoseok answered while shaking his head. “Someone need to take care of everything if I can't, go back to the headquarters."  
“I'm not leaving you there Hoseok !”  
“I'm not giving you the choice Kihyun it's an order !” Hoseok half shouted and he felt Changkyun tensing in his back. Hoseok started to walk don't the hallway, mentioning for Changkyun to follow him.  
“If we're both stuck here no one can take care of the rebellion, I'll be fine.” He said and Kihyun was getting his teeth, the sound of an engine starting buzzing in Hoseok's ear.  
“I'll be there with the backups.” Kihyun simply said before hanging up and Hoseok shouted in exasperation, storming in what seemed like the gun warehouse of the base, grabbing a rifle, a handgun and a couple of dagger before landing a gun and a dagger to a panicked and confused Changkyun.

“You know how to use that ?” Hoseok asked as he pointed at the weapon and Changkyun shook his head, his hand trembling a little as he held the gun.  
Hoseok sighed, feeling guilty that he put the younger in such a situation. He quickly explained to Changkyun how to use his weapon before grabbing the younger shoulders.  
“Always follow me and I'll make sure nothing happens to you. If we have to be separated, hide somewhere, hold that close to your chest and shoot if you need to., don't hesitate cause the men coming won't hesitate to kill you.” He tried to smile but Changkyun had become paler than a sheet of paper in the span of five minutes.

A blast was heard from the other side of the base and Hoseok gritted his teeth. He got out of the warehouse carefully, Changkyun following him close.  
He sent one last message to Kihyun asking him to be rational and to go back to the headquarters before the first screams and gunshots were heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO !  
> A lot of things happened, what do you think of the story so far, what do you think will happen in the next chapters, what about the relations between the characters ? Tell me what yo think I'm curious !  
> As always, critic is welcomed, good or not, as long as it's constructive ! Kudos are welcomed too, thank you so much for reading !  
> You can find me on twitter : @snowonnie


	4. The traitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi !  
> This is a quick update, the chapter might be a little shorter than the previous one but a lot happens in it !  
> Things are going to move fast fom now in the fic, I'll try to update as soon as possible !  
> A special Thank you to Kenny who has the kindest heart and accepted to proof read that chapter at 4 in the morning !

Kihyun never drove that fast, the memories of that day coming back in his mind and the fear rising in his system again. He had left Minhyuk in a hurry after talking to the older man. He tried to convince him to come to the headquarters with him, and he failed just like Hoseok. Minhyuk was just as stubborn as Kihyun was.  
When Gunhee called and his panicked voice told him about Alpha targeting the North Base, his blood ran cold and he was gone in a matter of two minutes. Leaving Minhyuk alone and confused at the door of the bar.

On his way to the base he was joined by the backup troops from the rebellion that Gunhee has sent and tried to contact Hoseok multiple times but the other man was completely silent and Kihyun's stomach was twisting a bit more every minute that passed. He finally got close enough to the base to see a thick black cloud of smoke rising from the the base that was an abandoned prison before the rebellion came here. The smell of ashes and smoke already filling his nostrils.  
Kihyun only drove faster, the motor of his car making an alarming noise. His earpiece buzzed and he clicked on it, hoping for Hoseok's voice to be heard, but it was the backups contacting him to organise their intervention. Kihyun sighed, hands gripping the wheel a bit tighter before the mask of the cold second in command was back to take care of the troops.

\---

Hyungwon didn't expect to be called with his medical team so soon. But here he was, packed in a van with fifteen of his men to bring medical support to Alpha’s soldiers during their raid to one of the bases belonging to the rebellion.  
Hyungwon heard Jooheon talking to Shownu about a mole giving him information about the rebels and their positions the previous day, and now he was here. Shownu was there too, and he has been looking unusually tense during the past few days but no one has asked about it. No one really talked to Shownu aside from Jooheon and Hyungwon, most of the soldiers were scared of him because of his strong and cold appearance, as well as his… abilities.

They had left the city maybe an hour ago and were now driving through the outskirts of the city. It was not Hyungwon first time out of the Wall, but the knot in his stomach always appeared when he glanced through the van’s window, it was ruins after ruins after ruins, and people looking at the vans with only hatred in their eyes. But this time something shocked him more than the last time he went out ; kids were running after the vans, screaming and throwing rocks and Hyungwon couldn't help but notice how thin the kids were..  
Alpha was keeping the food restricted but at this point they were just letting people die of hunger.  
Hyungwon clenched his fists and he looked away from the video to look at his feet instead. “It's not your problem Hyungwon”, he thought, “those people are not your problem… concentrate on your mission.” 

When they arrived at the base, Hyungwon's team was the last one to enter the building, gas mask securely settled on their faces and their equipment on their backs. As the team leader, Hyungwon gave out the orders before going in, rifle in hands, after all, he was also a soldier and needed to be able to defend himself if he was attacked.  
Hyungwon made his way through the old prison’s maze of hallways, conversations of the other soldiers buzzing in his ear, the sound of gunshots and the fire going on constantly resonating in the building to the point he had to concentrate even more to not feel dizzy.

The tall man walked down a hallway of the second floor, probably the sector where the rebels were doing their logistic since he could only see offices after offices behind the blasted open doors. Until now he didn't cross paths with anyone, or at least anyone alive.. It's only when he passed by one of the doors that he heard some noises coming from inside of the office. Hyungwon stopped in his tracks, aiming his rifle at the door. He breathed once, twice, sweat running down his forehead because of the tension and the heat caused by the fire that was devastating the building, before he pushed the door open.  
He was met by a man, maybe a bit younger than him, aiming his rifle at him as he was sitting on the floor. The man was struggling to breathe and his hands were shaking really badly, black hair sticking on his forehead, but what bugged Hyungwon was the man’s left thigh ; it was badly cut open and the flow of blood leaving his body was more than alarming.  
As a member of Alpha, he was supposed to execute the man or to let him die where he laid, but Hyungwon felt nauseous at the idea. He was a doctor, not a murderer.

Slowly, he dropped his rifle on the floor before raising his hands to take off his gas mask to speak.  
“Listen, if the bleeding doesn’t stop now you’ll only have maybe five minutes left to live. Let me help you.” he said seriously and the man looked at him with widened eyes before looking at the pool of blood under his leg.  
The young man got even paler -- if that's even possible, and dropped his weapon on the floor next to him, keeping his hand on it.  
“If you do something weird I'll shoot you.” he said with a surprisingly deep voice, but Hyungwon only nodded before getting on the floor next to him, putting his bag on the floor.  
He took a closer look at the wound and thankfully the femoral artery was not sectioned, or at least not completely.. Hyungwon had put on a pair of latex gloves and immediately pressed on the wound with one of his hands, handing his gas mask to the other man, if he kept on inhaling the smokes he was going to faint.  
“Wear that, try to breathe slowly, I need you to help me, okay ? You need to press hard on the wound, the most you can, do you think you can do that ?” Hyungwon said and the man nodded slightly, quickly pressing his hand on the bleeding wound when Hyungwon took his hand away to press at a particular point of the thigh to lower to flow of blood. With his free hand he searched through his bag and took out all the packets of medical cloths. He placed one cloth under the man’s hand, the fabric instantly turning red, before wrapping the rest of the cloths around the wound very tightly, removing the man’s hand to put it at the place he was pressing before.

The man looked like he was about to faint and Hyungwon frowned, removing his gloves before slapping the man’s cheeks slightly to keep him conscious.  
“Hey, stay with me a little more, what your name ?”  
“Ch...Changkyun..” the man answered and Hyungwon nodded, trying to smile a little.  
“Why...Why did you… saved me ?” Changkyun asked his voice so low that Hyungwon had to lean forward to hear him.

Why did he saved him.. 

Hyungwon stayed silent for a moment, looking at the man’s eyes before he smiled sadly.  
“I'm a doctor. That's my job. And you're not saved yet, continue to press there, if someone finds you, tell them you need a transfusion.” The tall man said, putting his hand over Changkyun's before getting up, packing his bag and taking his rifle off the floor.  
Changkyun was breathing through the gas mask, head spinning, observing the other man as he left. He was all alone again, the pain still throbbing through his entire leg. Even if that doctor helped him, Changkyun knew that if another soldier see him he won't hesitate to kill him, and Changkyun had no strength to fight back..  
The young man crawled behind the desk of the office, holding the rifle close to his chest with one hand, still pressing in his thigh with the other.

Time was passing by slowly and Changkyun fought the feeling of passing out a few times, the pain was unbearable and with the loss of blood, his body was begging him to give up, but if he passed out, he would die.  
He tried to keep his mind occupied, he thought about his cousin, who was more like a brother to him. When Changkyun lost his parents, Minhyuk's family had adopted him and since then Minhyuk always took care of him, and when Minhyuk's parents passed away, Changkyun did his best to be there for him too. He wondered if Minhyuk knew he was here… How he would react if he had to die here.. 

“Changkyun ! Changkyun are you here !”

Changkyun didn't react, too lost in thought.

“Changkyun… Please answer !”

Changkyun frowned, shaking his head slowly. Was someone calling him or was it his mind playing tricks ?

“For sucks sake… Changkyun !!”

Changkyun recognised the voice, and it took him a few seconds to hear the footsteps too.

“Hoseok hyung..” the younger breathed, tears flooding his eyes.  
He didn't have the strength to yell, to call for the older man, so he grabbed his rifle to knock it on the desk desperately. 

 

\---

Hoseok didn't know when and how he got separated from Changkyun, but the situation was terrible, even if they were outnumbering Alpha, their soldiers were way more equipped… The fire going on in the building wasn't helping, the smoke making it hard to breathe and hard to see..  
Hoseok was covered in ashes, blood and cuts, breathless and constantly on alert.

He needed to find Changkyun, he promised the younger man to find him if they had to be separated. He had too.  
He called the man's name in the hallways, the battle was lost and he told his men to retreat because the building would collapse soon, there was nothing to protect anymore. He needed to find Changkyun, if only the boy was still alive..  
Hoseok was about to give up when he heard a knocking sound coming from one of the offices. Carefully he entered the room, before rushing to the younger man when he heard him murmuring his name.

Hoseok’s stomach sank when he saw Changkyun's condition, guilt immediately rising through his system. The younger man was pale, his shirt drenched in cold sweat and blood, his skin was so pale that if he wasn't breathing Hoseok would had thought he was dead.

“Kyun, hey, are you with me ?” Hoseok called, cupping Changkyun's face to get his attention and he slightly nodded.  
Hoseok tried to smile at him, breathing a “good" before he got a closer look at the younger’s leg.  
If the gas mask he was wearing was pretty weird to Hoseok, the way his leg was bandaged… There was no way Changkyun had done it himself, but Hoseok decided to save it for later, his priority was to get Changkyun out of here, alive.  
“Okay, listen to me, we're going to get out of here, I'll carry you. Exy managed to get out and she's waiting for us.”

The younger nodded again and Hoseok carefully lifted him in his arms, apologising when Changkyun winced in pain.  
Once the man was securely settled in his arms, Hoseok walked out of the room as he carried Changkyun bridal style, the dark haired man resting his head against his shoulder, eyes closed.  
Getting out of here was not going to be a cakewalk. Alpha had taken over the whole building and were probably searching for survivors to finish them off or take them to their headquarters.. If they had to cross path with a group of soldiers, it was over for both of them.

Hoseok quickly exited this aisle of the building to join the meeting point Exy had given him before the communication was cut. He was getting closer to their meeting point when he heard people running in their directions and Hoseok quickly looked around to see if there was a place to hide.. He didn't have the time to reach the half-opened door he spotted, thought, since Kihyun's voice echoed in the hallway as the man's silhouette appeared.  
Hoseok felt his stomach drop once again. Kihyun's was followed by three Alpha soldiers, he was limping badly.. 

When Kihyun's eyes met his to then land on Changkyun, Hoseok knew.  
Kihyun stopped running and spun around to face the men who were following him, aiming his gun at them.

“Go !! I'll hold them back !!” Kihyun shouted and Hoseok felt sick, torn between the wish to save both Kihyun and Changkyun and the realisation that he had to make a choice.  
Kihyun quickly looked back at Hoseok, and shook his head.  
“Think about the priorities !! Go !! FUCKING GO !!” Kihyun cried out, hiding the tears that were forming at the corner of his eyes from Hoseok, and Hoseok stepped back, once, twice, before he turned his back to Kihyun, running towards the exit with Changkyun still semi-conscious in his arms.

“I'm coming back for you !!” he shouted back at Kihyun, hoping that the man heard him. He was not going to abandon Kihyun. He couldn't.

\---

“I’m coming back for you !!” Hoseok's voice resonated in the hallway, the sound muffled by the smoke and the sound of gunshots.  
Kihyun smiled for himself, once again ignoring the pain in his chest.  
_“Of course you'll come back..”_ He thought as he started to run again to put a distance between him and the men. There was no escape left for him, he knew it, Hoseok was not going to come back in time, Kihyun already came to the conclusion that he was either dying here, or dying between the hands of Alpha. And the thought that he was going to die without telling Hoseok how he felt made him feel sick to his stomach. But right now his priority was to gain time for the others. If he were to die, he had to make his death useful.  
So Kihyun ran, firing his gun towards the soldiers, using the smoke to cover him, he did it until his leg gave out, until he fell from that staircase, his head strongly hitting on of the steps, until he saw those men in white surrounding him with their guns aimed at his head, until the moment his vision went black he thought of Hoseok, of Minhyuk and of Changkyun, hoping that they'll be fine without him.

 

\--- 

When Hoseok reached the exit and found Exy and the others, he quickly laid Changkyun on the back seats of the car and asked for Exy to look over him, ready to leave again, but the woman strongly gripped his arm with a dumbfounded look.

“Where do you think you're going ?”  
“Kihyun is still in there, I'm getting him out !”

Exy tensed at his words and exhaled loudly but she didn't let go of his arm.

“You can't. Everyone that is still alive evacuated now, Alpha has taken over the base you can't go back in there !”  
“But Kihyun is still alive and I need to get him out !!”  
“You won't find him Hoseok ! Look at what the base looks like ? It'll collapse in a matter of minutes ! The fire is everywhere ! We can't do anything for him !”

Hoseok’s heart stopped beating for a second and he turned to look at the burning building behind him, his jaw clenching as well as his fists.  
“Think about the priorities” Kihyun's resonated in his head and he closed his eyes painfully before he sighed and got in the car next to Changkyun without a word.  
He ignored the sorry look that Exy gave him as she got into the driver's seat. He didn't look back as they drove away to one of their hideout with two other cars.

When they arrived at their destination, Changkyun was immediately rushed to the medical team and Hoseok didn't waste a minute to think as he helped Exy to count the rebels and make a point on the situation, calling the other bases to tell them to be even more vigilant and asking for medical help and food.  
It's only when the moon was already high in the sky that Hoseok finally isolated himself on the roof of the abandoned apartments complex they were hiding in.  
Right in front of him was that wall, the wall that was separating Alpha and the privileged from the rest of the population, the wall that was maybe separating him from Kihyun.. Or maybe not.  
Hoseok finally allowed himself to cry out of rage, of exhaustion and sadness, and Kihyun was not here to pat his shoulder, he was not there, he was simply not there, and Hoseok was completely lost.

It's only when his implant buzzed that Hoseok got back to his senses, a message from Exy was telling him that Changkyun was awake.  
The man rushed to where the infirmary was and couldn't help but sigh in relief when he met Changkyun's open eyes.

“Hyung..” He sighed and Hoseok sat on the side of the bed offering a sad smile to the younger.  
“Hey, how are you feeling ?”  
“Like utter shit..” Changkyun laughed weakly and Hoseok bit the inside of his mouth.  
“I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry, Kyun..”  
“It's okay… You did your best.. and you found me.. It's okay.” Changkyun reassured him and moved his hand to hold Hoseok's one.  
There was a moment of silent between them, Hoseok not knowing where to start. 

“Hyung..” Changkyun spoke again and Hoseok looked back at him  
“A.. a soldier from Alpha saved me.. He.. said he was a doctor and.. He helped me with my leg.. “

Hoseok frowned and looked at the doctor that was checking Changkyun’s vitals.  
“We tried to look for anything suspicious but there was nothing…. Except for the gas mask he was wearing, there’s someone’s initials on it, probably from the doctor in question.” the man said as he handed the gas mask to Hoseok.  
Hoseok looked at it carefully, stopping on the initials that were engraved on the side of the mask.

“CHW…” he said out loud, looking up at Changkyun “He didn’t tell you his name I presume.”  
Changkyun shook his head.  
Hoseok sighed as he got up, squeezing Changkyun’s hand before letting it go.  
“You got lucky, I’m glad you did.. Now get some rest, okay ? I’ll try to contact Minhyuk later to update him.” Hoseok smiled and Changkyun nodded, returning the smile.  
“Thank you hyung.” he murmured before adding “I didn’t see Kihyun hyung yet.. Is he okay ?” 

Hoseok felt his expression sink at the words and it took him a few seconds to regain his composure. Changkyun was looking at him with a worried expression that Hoseok couldn’t handle, not now.  
“Get some rest, ‘Kyun, we’ll talk tomorrow.” was his only reply as he patted the mattress before he exited the infirmary, ignoring Changkyun’s calls.

\---

The next day a group of rebels went to the North Base to check if there was any survivors, but Alpha had done their work, and the group didn’t find a single living soul in what remained of the base. They also didn’t find Kihyun’s body and it gave Hoseok some hope that he was still alive somewhere..  
Hoseok had to take care of many things so he didn’t got to visit Changkyun until late in the afternoon. He told him about Kihyun. The younger boy cried, and Hoseok comforted him, telling him that there was still hope that everything was not completely lost, and perhaps he tried to convince himself at the same time..

“I asked them to bring you your laptop over here, I’ll need you to work on something when you feel better.” Hoseok said softly once Changkyun had calmed down, and the younger nodded.  
“What is it ?”  
“I want you to find that doctor in Alpha’s database.. We have his initials and we know he’s a doctor, I know you can find him.” Hoseok explained and Changkyun hummed.  
“Yeah I think I can do that. Why do you need him ?”  
“He saved you despite being on Alpha’s side. That’s never happened before, we need him on our side. He’ll be a precious element if he can give us insider information.” 

Changkyun nodded again in agreement. “Did you… Talk to Minhyuk hyung already ?” he then asked.  
“I did. He wanted to come here but I told him to avoid doing anything suspicious since Alpha has an eye on him. He’ll probably call you after closing the bar tonight.” 

Changkyun looked disappointed for a few seconds before looking at his hands. “Does he know about Kihyun hyung..”  
“I told him, yes.” Hoseok answered with a low voice, the lump in his throat rising again. “He told me to do everything I can to find him and that’s what I’m gonna do, but I need your help for that.”  
“I’ll get to work as soon as my laptop is here. I’m gonna find that CHW dude and try to localise Kihyun’s implant.” the younger said seriously and Hoseok nodded, murmuring a small thank you before leaving the room.

Hoseok spent another sleepless night on the rooftop, smoking Kihyun’s cigarettes, as if the burning sensation in his lungs and throat was something comforting.. And when he looked up at the sky, his eyes landed on the moon. He observed the shiny crescent for a long moment, it’s glow almost hypnotic.. He eventually fell asleep wondering if Kihyun was also able to see it from where he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...... Some of you thought that Changkyun was going to be taken away by Alpha but I'm : sneaky hehe  
> It was too easy !!  
> We got the first encounter between Hyungwon and Changkyun and I think you all guessed that Hyungwon is going to be an important character in the next chapters !  
> Also, the title of that chapter is not just a title.. I'm just saying it like that.  
> I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter, as always, I'm craving validation and I'm curious about your opinions so please comment ! Leave a kudo too if you feel like it ~  
> See you for the next update !  
> You can find me on twitter : @snowonnie


	5. Decision

The first thing Kihyun noticed when he regained consciousness was the heavy taste of blood in his mouth. So heavy that he felt nauseous. He coughed a bit in an attempt to chase the nausea away. His whole body woke up ; the pain shooting through every cell of his body like if it was pierced by hundreds of needles. Trying to chase the pain away he shifted to his side but was soon stopped from moving, both his hands handcuffed to the railing of the bed. The realisation finally hit him as well as the memories from what happened ; he had been caught by Alpha.

Kihyun never knew that opening his eyes could be so difficult but it took him a few minutes to finally open them up, only to be blinded by an aggressive white light. Kihyun cussed out loud, tired, weak and attempting to repress the panic that was slowly rising through his body. He pulled at his hands, trying to release them but he only managed to bruise his wrists more than they already were.  
He gave up occasionally, shaking.  
Or shivering, he couldn’t tell.  
The blurred image of Hoseok running out of the base with Changkyun flashed in front of his eyes and he closed them tight, feeling a new wave of thick panic rolling over him. He silently prayed that both of them were safe by now.

Hoseok was not with him. No gentle hand to pat his shoulder or reassuring eyes to hold onto. Kihyun concentrated on his breathing for a moment, inhaling and exhaling slowly. He had to get back to his senses or else he won’t survive, he won't give Alpha the satisfaction to break him.

Carefully he opened his eyes again, taking a look at his surroundings.  
The room was completely white - the floor, the walls, the door, the bed, the clothes he was wearing, the machines next to him, the ridiculous toilet bowl in the top right corner… Everything was a spotless white, completely empty of any colors. Only the wall in front of him was covered by a big window giving view on another room. The constant beeping of the machines next to him and the sound of the IV drip were only increasing the eery aura of the room. Kihyun exhaled shakily, there was no way for him to escape or contact the others, he was trapped here. 

The door opened suddenly and Kihyun turned his head to look at the person who was entering the room, a knot forming in his stomach. His world spined and it took him some time for his vision to focus on the newcomer.  
The man was tall and strong. More than Hoseok. His hair was neatly pushed, and his uniform a blinding white, just like the room they were in. The man approached Kihyun with a red folder in his hands and sat on the chair next to his bed, close enough for Kihyun to read the man’s name tag.

Son Shownu.

The man opened the folder in silence and read the first pages before looking up at Kihyun.

“Yoo Kihyun, 24, used to live in the City with his parents and younger sister until 12 years ago when the three of them died in a car accident. And you… Disappeared from the radars. Interesting, so you are a resident of Alpha.” the man said with a smile.  
“Was.” Kihyun dryly corrected and the smile of the other’s man face disappeared instantly. “Are you done reciting your homework ?” he added and the man closed the folder before placing it on the side of the bed calmly. 

“You know why we decided to keep you alive, Kihyun.” Shownu paused and Kihyun hated the way he emphasized his name.  
“We know who you are, we know what you represent for the rebels and your position in the rebellion. You’re precious and have valuable information to give us.” The man continued and Kihyun scoffed loudly. 

Put on your mask Kihyun, don’t let him know. Don't let him see.

“We will find a way to get what we want from you. You’re not a challenge, or stronger that the men we already interrogated, you’re just a chess pawn.” a tiny smirk arched Shownu's lips “You can’t escape from here anyway, so the faster you speak up, the less you’re going to suffer. As simple as that. And if you try to give us false information.. Maybe we... will find Lee Minhyuk again and bring him here. What do you think about that ?” 

Kihyun tensed, fists clenching and eyes boring daggers in to the other man’s soul at the mention of Minhyuk. It took him all the resistance in the world to not scream at him, to not shake the cuffs off his hands and punch him.  
“You’re wasting your time.” Kihyun said “You’re better off executing me, you won’t get anything for me.” 

 

“One thing at the time.” Shownu answered with a small smile. “We can’t just get rid of you without trying, can we ? You will be executed for your crimes in due time.”  
The man got up, grabbing the folder before tucking it under his arm. He looked down at Kihyun with cold eyes. He sensed all the hatred and anger the restrained prisoner felt.  
The man crossed the room again and stopped with his hand on the handle of the door, turning around to look at Kihyun again.  
“Do you know any man named Shin Hoseok ?” 

The question caught Kihyun off guard.  
How on earth did he knew about Hoseok's real identity...  
Kihyun slowly shook his head with a stern look on his face.  
“No. Never heard of that name before.”  
He observed the man biting his lower lip, looking quite disappointed by Kihyun's answer.  
And suddenly it clicked in his mind. And Kihyun felt the anger boil up again. He knew who Minhyuk was, he knew Hoseok’s real name.. 

He must be Hoseok’s brother, Kihyun thought.

The man knocked on the door two times and it opened to let him out. The door closed after him and Kihyun was alone again, feeling dizzy, furious and maybe also terrorised.  
Perhaps when he closed his eyes, he saw Hoseok running out of the base again, his voice screaming that he will come back for him.  
And somehow, Kihyun hoped that it was still true. That Hoseok will come back for him. Sooner or later.

\---

Once they got back, the higher ups had said that the mission had been a success. Hyungwon had smiled and thanked everyone when he was told he did an amazing job. As always, they would say. He was the little genius of Alpha after all.

There's nothing to be proud of about letting people die or killing them Hyungwon had wanted to answer them.

He was sitting next to Shownu who had been the headmaster of the mission. He was the one who managed to persuade one of the rebels to be their spy, the one who organised the mission and came up with the idea to trap the second head of the rebellion. All of that thanks to their spy and Shownu’s brain. The man was probably the most powerful soldier of Alpha by now.. He was smart and strong and good with his men. By now he was probably on the list of names of people worthy to rule over Alpha one day.

The heads of Alpha were being optimistic about putting an end to the rebellion after decades of war. And when the meeting ended and they all got up to shout “Glory to Alpha!”, Hyungwon had chugged down three glasses of really expensive white wine to drown that shitty feeling in his stomach.  
He couldn’t tell what changed, why he felt so uneasy about what happened. He couldn’t tell why his stomach was twisting so badly when he thought about the man he helped during the raid, why he couldn’t stop thinking of it…of him. The terror he had seen in the man’s eyes to this day like tattooed in his eyes. Deep in the back of his mind, he hoped that the man survived his wounds.

The feeling of someone’s hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality. He turned around to see Shownu who was giving him a concerned look.

“Hey, you haven’t spoken a word since we got back. It’s been four days, are you alright ?” the older man said and Hyungwon tried to give him his most convincing smile as he nodded. Shownu seemed genuinely concerned.

“I’m good. It’s been a while since I last participated in a mission like that and… got to see the outskirts again, that's all.” his voice lowered in pitch at the end of his sentence. He looked through the big window of the meeting room they were in, observing the city lights shining brightly, and that big wall hiding the citizen from the rest of the world, the memories of the people in the outskirts flooding his mind.  
Shownu hummed without adding any words and Hyungwon sighed.

“You grew up out there, right ?”  
“Sorry ?” the older answered, a slight frown tugging at his thick eyebrows.  
“You grew up in the outskirts, didn't you ?” Hyungwon repeated, looking over at Shownu. The air shifted between them, tense enough to give Hyungwon goosebumps.  
There was a bit of silence and Hyungwon pursed his lips when Shownu nodded.  
“I see. I think I'll get going.” was the only thing Hyungwon answered before he finished his drink and exited the room, leaving Shownu without looking back.

That was the first time since he had met Shownu that he felt uncomfortable with him. Like if the older whom he once respected a lot was not…. That respectable anymore.

He went to the changing room dedicated to the medic team and grabbed his things from his locker. Leaving the headquarters, he wondered how Shownu was able to work for Alpha when they were slowly killing the people living in the outskirts. His home, the place he grew up within... Where maybe his old friends were still alive… Or slowly dying from hunger.  
The tall man felt sick to his stomach again when he got into the elevator taking him to his apartment.  
Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he thought looked pathetic, wrapped in his expensive coat that could cost dozens of meals. He was looking so disgustingly good, young and rich, his tan skin glowing with health.

What a poor excuse of a doctor who was not even able to stand for his beliefs.

Hyungwon stepped out of the elevator and crossed the hallway to unlock his front door.  
Quickly getting rid of his coat and shoes once he got in, he threw himself on the couch.

He sighed, face buried in the plush cushions until his cat climbed on the arm rest, meowing softly to get his attention. Hyungwon sat up properly on the couch, letting the cat rest on his lap, petting it with care. He couldn’t erase the image of those kids in the outskirts running after the vans. Their frail bodies trying desperately to reach for them. Every time he would close his eyes, they would haunt him. They were showing up in his dreams, turning them into nightmares where he would be chased by hundreds of them..  
Guilt was eating him up bit by bit every day. 

Hyungwon sighed and lifted his left hand, a small screen appearing in his palm. With his other hand, he clicked on the ‘Turn on TV’ option and the big screen on the wall in front of him lit up, a bunch of movie and TV show recommendations appearing instantly. Using his left hand he scrolled through the programs until the moment his screen suddenly glitched. 

Hyungwon frowned and tried to keep scrolling but the screen froze for a few seconds before glitching again. Then it went black.  
He didn’t have the time to react to the TV screen turning white, blinding him for a few seconds. When his eyes got used to the brightness, his blood ran cold.

CHAE HYUNGWON  
WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

Those were the words written in red letters on the white screen. Hyungwon was paralysed on the couch, unable to move or think, only looking at the screen as more text appeared.

WE HAVE BEEN OBSERVING YOU.  
IF YOU TRY TO CONTACT ALPHA.  
WE WON'T HESITATE TO ELIMINATE YOU.

His eyes widened and a drop of sweat rolled down his temple. He clenched his fists.  
“W-Who are you ? Jooheon, if it's one of your jokes, it's not funny at all !” Hyungwon stuttered and gulped when the text changed again. He was terrified.

WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID IN THE NORTH BASE OF THE REBELLION.  
WHO YOU SAVED.  
WE WANT TO MAKE YOU AN OFFER.

Was it the Rebellion ? Or a trick of Alpha to trap him ? Did Shownu tell the higher ups he was being suspicious ? Hyungwon couldn't tell.

Was he ready to take the risk ?

To possibly put an end to his safe and comfortable life ? To either end up in the Rebellion or being executed by Alpha ?  
...Or both ?

He looked at the screen for a few minutes, the gears in his head working at full speed. He was dizzy, all the possibilities crossing his mind

Hyungwon finally sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before nodding.

“I'm listening.” He said shakily and the screen glitched again.

A MEMBER OF THE REBELLION HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY BY ALPHA.  
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO GET HIM OUT.

Hyungwon scoffed out loud, unable to hide his sudden amusement.  
“Are you for real ?... What would I win for helping you ? Risking my life for a stranger ? Getting a prisoner out of Alpha is impossible. I'll get killed before even getting him out of his cell.”

The TV glitched black and the image of a howling wolf appeared in the centre of it before a voice echoed in Hyungwon's living room.

“But you have already saved a stranger before, haven’t you ? You saved a rebel because you know what’s wrong with Alpha. Because you saw the people in the outskirts. Letting people die is not in your nature, Hyungwon. You're a doctor after all. By saving him, you give us a chance to stop Alpha. To save the people in the outskirts.” 

Hyungwon couldn't recognise the voice, but he frowned at the words. Looking at the wolf image on his TV, the memory of those kids flashed before his eyes and he tried to blink it away. 

Maybe you'll finally do something right in your life.

“The prisoner.” Hyungwon finally spoke up, picking at his nails. “I heard they’re going to interrogate him tomorrow. He'll need a doctor after that… You want me to ask to be in charge of taking care of him, is that it ?”

“Indeed. We need you to keep him alive until we have a plan to get him out.”

“I never said I agreed.” Hyungwon paused, thinking of his next words carefully. “Give me three days to think.” 

The voice didn't answered right away and Hyungwon heard some shuffling, then a sigh.

“Two days. Our men will meet you then. You'll give your answer. Please understand that we can't take to much risks and that your future will depend of your decision.” the voice finally said.

Cold sweat ran down his spine and Hyungwon exhaled shakily. This was a really bad idea. No rebels ever got out of Alpha. Neither did the traitors. At least not alive…

“And if I help you and manage by, I don't know what miracle, to get your man out ? What will I gain ?”

“We're not going to let you do this alone. But you'll receive the protection of the rebellion as well as your place as one of the men who fought for liberty.”

\---

“Do you think he’s going to cooperate ?” Changkyun asked, closing the laptop that was settled on his lap before looking up at Hoseok.

“He don’t really have the choice.” Hoseok answered before getting up. “Exy managed to get into the city with her squad. If Chae lets us down, they’ll make sure he’ll cooperate in the end.” 

Changkyun nodded, watching the man gathering his stuff.  
“You're going to pick up Minhyuk hyung ?”

“Yes." Hoseok smiled, dusting invisible dust on his leather jacket. “I promised him I'll let him see you. It's been a few days already and he'll be insufferable if I make him wait any longer.”  
Changkyun laughed and waved Hoseok goodbye, watching him disappear in the hallway.

Changkyun was doing well, getting better everyday since the attack. His leg was still painful, sometimes unbearably so. He’d woke up in the middle of the night because of the throbbing sensation in his thigh, gasping for air and tears in his eyes. But he was fine, he was safe, he was _alive_. 

Hoseok had brought him his laptop the day after he woke up and Changkyun immediately got to work. Finding Chae Hyungwon had been a piece of cake for him. And after reading his personal data, he maybe felt a bit of admiration for the man. At 23 he was one of the best doctor of Alpha, starting as a nurse at 20 he worked his way up and proved his skills as a doctor and was now the one in charge of the medic team of the Elite of Alpha. He was even considered as a genius by some citizens.  
However there was no trace of his existence before he entered Alpha’s forces and no matter how deep Changkyun searched, he found nothing about the man's childhood, no family members, no school, nothing. And it only increased his curiosity for the man.

If Chae accepted to cooperate, he would become the most precious ally the Rebellion ever had.

 

\---

_“Kihyun probably never cared about someone more than he cares about you.”_

_“There’s you and Changkyun.”_

_“That’s different.” Minhyuk had smiled sadly, leaning back in his chair with a glass of cheap whisky. “We’re like his family. For you, it’s different ‘seok.”_

_“But he loved you.”_

_“Hmm” the red head hummed, taking a sip of his glass. He made a face as the alcohol burned his throat. “It’s not how I see it.”_

_“What do you mean ?”_

_“Kihyun cared for me, but he never loved me. That was more… My thing to do. I guess I have a thing for angry and tiny people.” Minhyuk smiled again, a small laughed escaping his mouth. Hoseok smiled with him without really feeling like it._

_“I don’t even know if there was something between us you know ? Kihyun is a fucking mystery when it comes to… Emotions and stuffs. It’s like if… Something broke inside of him after his family died in that accident. Ever since then he never got any rest. He first crashed here and helped me and Kyun with the bar, then he got into the Rebellion.. He just never stopped running. I wish he could be at peace at least one day.. I never managed to bring him any peace, I never got to repair what broke inside of him, never found the missing pieces. “_

_Minhyuk sighed this time, emptying his glass before putting it on the table. He locked eyes with Hoseok for a few seconds and smiled again.  
“But it’s different with you ‘seok. So much different…”_

 

Hoseok has been replaying in his head that conversation he had with Minhyuk the day after the attack a hundred times already. Minhyuk’s words echoing a bit louder each time he thought of it. It was haunting him every time he would lay in his bed, waiting for his mind to finally shut down and allow him some rest. And he couldn't understand why.  
Five day had passed and things were slowly going back to normal. Most of the survivors of the attack were now either healing of dispatched in differents hideout of the rebellion to get back to work.

Despite the terrible event, they were sticking to their plans.

Only Changkyun, Exy and her squad were working on getting Kihyun out of Alpha’s headquarters now that they got the confirmation he was there. They already had found Chae Hyungwon and Exy and her men sneaked into the City thanks to their map of underground system.  
Chae was supposed to give his answer the next day and Hoseok was worried sick.

Could they really trust him...  
\---

 

The next day Hyungwon came back to work only to be called by his superior no more than ten minutes after arriving. He almost puked out of nervosity, convinced that Apha knew about his encounter with the rebels the night before and that they were going to execute him the seconds he would step in his superior's office.  
That wouldn’t be the first time it happened anyway.  
It’s with a shaky hand that he knocked on the big wooden door and waited to hear a “come in” to enter.  
He closed the door behind him carefully and bowed to his superior, the woman nodding and motionning him to sit down.

The office was as white as the rest of the Headquarters and big windows were giving a beautiful view of the city, the sun rising slowly between the skyscrapers. Only the desk and the door were a deep shade of wood, contrasting with the pure and immaculate white.  
Jihyun was sitting at her desk, dressed in a dark blue dress, long ash blonde hair neatly styled in a high ponytail and lips painted a sensual red.  
As beautiful as she was, Kang Jihyun was also probably one of of the most feared member of the higher ups of Alpha. 

Hyungwon shifted in his seat as the woman in front of him was highlighting something with a blue pen on the file she was reading before closing it down. 

“You look awful today.” she mentioned as she looked up at Hyungwon, crossing her delicate hands on the desk. 

“Rough night” he answered, “Calliope was in a playful mood and was determined to not let me sleep.”

Jihyun hummed, a small smile tugging as her lips at the mention of the cat. She then pushed the file towards him with a nod. 

“I guess you heard about the rebel Shownu managed to catch.”

Hyungwon nodded.

“The interrogation already started this morning, we need you to keep him alive until we decide that he won’t be of any help. It’ll last maybe a week or two and will be your top priority for the time being. Keep him alive, make sure he would be able to speak. After that he’ll be executed on the main place of the city as an exemple.” 

Hyungwon took the file in his hands, opening it to read the main lines quickly as Jihyun was explaining his task. He gulped quietly, hiding the shaking of his hands as much as he could.

“The rebels are probably gonna try to get him back, Shownu will make sure this won't happen and is preparing his squad to take down any attacks.”

They made eye contact and Hyungwon closed the file, nodding again as Jihyun gave him a satisfied smile. 

“You can go and take care of our guest now, I’ll call you if there’s something more I need you to do.” 

Hyungwon got up, bowed once again and exited the room, exhaling loudly once he closed the door behind him. The situation was getting more confusing by the minute.. 

He changed into his work clothes quickly and headed towards the cell where they were keeping the rebel in. After showing his name tag and authorisation pass to the guards, he finally entered the cell.  
His eyes immediately focused on the only source of colour in the white room. Yoo Kihyun was there, handcuffed to the medical bed, blood tainting the collar of his blouse and soaked wet. From where he was Hyungwon could see the man shaking and shivering, his blue lips a proof of how cold he was.  
Hyungwon felt bile rising up his throat and took a few steps to get closer to the other man.  
Kihyun turned his head when he heard the footsteps and hissed, he looked like a dying animal, scared and full of anger. 

Hyungwon ignored the nausea that was torturing his stomach and silently organised differents medical cloths and disinfectants on the small table next to the bed. He checked the man’s vitals as he was putting on his latex gloves and hummed slightly, pick up a syringe and a flask of morphine. He then injected the morphine to the IV drip and Kihyun relaxed almost instantly. 

“I’m Chae Hyungwon.” he started softly to get the man’s attention, waiting for him to turn his heads to look at him to continue. “I’m not here to interrogate you but to make sure you’re not in too much pain.”

“That’s too nice of Alpha” Kihyun scoffed, voice hoarse from the pain “they’re sending me a nurse to make sure I don’t die and can continue to play with me as long as it pleases them.. So nice. You’re just helping them to kill me, no need to act sweet.” 

Hyungwon grimaced, putting the syringe down to take some cloths and disinfectants to take care of the wounds on the rebel’s body. There were bruises and patches of drying blood on his face, neck and arms and Hyungwon knew that if he lifted the blouse, he would see more of these..  
Without a word he started to clean the wounds and banded them carefully, fully aware of the way Kihyun was staring at him. 

“Can I ask you something.” Kihyun suddenly said and Hyungwon looked up, arching a brow.  
“Go ahead.” he finally answered, moving to Kihyun’s face to apply some cream on his black eye.  
“How do y’all Alpha dogs sleep at night knowing than most of the people in the outskirts are dying from hunger or in the facilities that gives people here their little luxury ? That kids see their parents dying and have to fight and sometimes kill in order to get a piece of bread ? How ?”

Hyungwon stopped in his tracks, as if paralyzed by the venom in Kihyun’s words. He looked at the man and blinked, silent. He finished to apply the cream and took off his gloves, throwing them in the trash bin next to the bed. He sighed, looking over him before bending over Kihyun, his lips close to the man’s ear so only him could hear his next words. 

“I don’t sleep. I can’t. That’s why I took a decision.” 

When he moved away from Kihyun, Hyungwon dusted his uniform and pushed his glasses up his nose. The other man was silently looking at him, his eyes unreadable, but Hyungwon wasn’t expecting him to understand or even trust him, not yet. 

His decision was made.  
He had two weeks, two weeks to get Yoo Kihyun out of here and put an end to Alpha’s madness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I'm deeply sorry for the time it took me to update... I must admit that I had a big writer's block for a while and then a lot of things happened in my life hehe. I started school again in a new country so I don't know when I will able to update again but I'm definitely not giving up on Crossfire, it's my baby ;;  
> As always, I can't go on without knwing what you think of my work and only wanna improve so !! Leave a comment pleaseee, kudos are appreciated too !  
> I hope you enjoyed that chapter !
> 
>  
> 
> You can find me on twitter : @snowonnie


	6. Newton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know... It's been a long time and once again I'm really sorry for sucking so much a posting regularly..  
> But here is the 6th chapter to start 2019 and hopefully I'll be able to write many more as I still have a lot of ideas for that baby !  
> Trigger warning for violence and cursing I guess ? Also it's roughly beta'd and it's almost 2am here so I'm sorry for any mistakes,,  
> Enjoy !

The next day Hyungwon went back to Alpha. He greeted his coworkers, offered coffee to Jooheon who stayed up all night to work on some new programs to block any cyber attacks from the rebellion. He gave his report to Jihyun and even greeted Shownu as he entered Yoo Kihyun’s cell to check on him.  
The first thing he noticed was that the man was no longer handcuffed to the bed but sitting in a corner of the room, hands and feet tied, knees pulled close to his chest. The man was shaking, looking weak, frail even, and Hyungwon noticed the blindfold that was blocking the man’s view.. He felt sick again. So sick. 

And guilty.

“Couldn't get anything from him. It's gonna take a while.” Shownu sighed, arms crossed on his chest, and Hyungwon noticed traces of blood on his white uniform. “Jihyun said to have no restraint but..”  
“What ? Do you suddenly feel bad for them ?” Hyungwon asked calmly, eyebrow raised before he scoffed. “Come on hyung you won't fool me. Just make sure that I can still do my job here.”

Shownu gave him a puzzled look, a bit taken aback by Hyungwon's bluntness, overseeing him arranging his stuffs. “Because I have to do it doesn't mean I enjoy it.” Shownu quietly answered.  
Hyungwon looked up at him and blinked slowly, nodding his head nonchalantly. “That is not my problem if you enjoy it or not hyung. But you're responsible of him and you knew what it was going to take to interrogate him.”

 _Maybe you tried to get something that is too big for you_ , he wanted to add but kept silent.

Silence fell between them for a few seconds before Shownu hummed and finally exited the room, leaving Hyungwon to work. Making sure to keep everything that Kihyun could use as a weapon against him away, he approached the other man carefully, kneeling in front of him.  
Kihyun didn’t moved or even looked up at him, head hidden in his knees, hands tied close to his chest, a chain linking them to his feet. And now that Hyungwon was close enough, he could see that he was shaking really bad, hair damp and clothes clinging to his body.  
He was about to lean a bit more to observe the man’s wounds better when Kihyun suddenly launched forward, knocking the air out of his lungs and making him fall backward, his head hitting the floor quite violently.  
Quickly, the blindfolded man blocked Hyungwon on the floor, arm pressed against his throat with enough force to make Hyungwon dizzy from the lack of air.

“If… If you think that killing me… Is going to make them kill you faster then… you’re completely wrong.” Hyungwon breathed, grasping Kihyun’s arm. The man still had a lot of strength despite how weakened he was.  
“I’m not gonna say anything anyways.” the other man answered, panting a little. Hyungwon could see him frown behind the blindfold. “He seem to care about you enough to kill someone for you.”  
“Shownu ?” Hyungwon scoffed weakly, trying to move under Kihyun to break free but he was completely blocked by Kihyun’s body.  
“Not if it’s going to... impact his main mission..Shownu is probably the most loyal... member of Alpha.” He tried to breathe “Now get off me, it’s pointless, you know it. You’re desperate.”

Kihyun remained silent for a few seconds, pressing a little harder against Hyungwon’s throat as a warning and the taller man coughed a bit, black stars dancing in front of his eyes.  
Feeling that Kihyun wasn’t going to give up, Hyungwon tightened his grip on his arm too.

“I can be your only way out...Of here.. Killing me.. might be your worst mistake.” Hyungwon finally tried, his free hand slowly reaching for the pocket of his blouse. “But you’ll have to trust me…And your hacker friend.”  
“How do you kn--”

Using the confusion of the other man, Hyungwon grabbed the seryngue he always kept in his pocket and stabbed it in Kihyun’s thigh, emptying the tranquilizer that was in it.  
Almost instantly, Kihyun’s muscles relaxed against his will and he fell to the side, Hyungwon rolling to the other side, coughing loudly.

The door of the room opened suddenly and Shownu appeared followed by Jooheon.

“What happened ?” Shownu said, taking quick steps in Hyungwon’s direction, looking at a now unconscious Kihyun.  
“Man you’re okay ?” Jooheon followed the older, giving a worried look at Hyungwon.

The later waved his hand in the air dismissively, still coughing a bit. His lungs were burning as if his was inhaling smoke.

 _That little bastard seems like he still had a lot of strength.._

“I’m fine… Don’t worry.. I just had to.. Make him sleep.. ‘wouldn't let me do my job. I think it would be better to keep him in the bed, he’s a fierce one.”  
“You should’ve called.” Shownu said seriously, making sure that Kihyun was definitely knocked out before picking him up put him back in the medical bed.  
“It's okay, nothing I couldn't handle.” Hyungwon said, grabbing the hand that Jooheon was offering him to get back on his feet. He quickly dusted his white blouse before running his hand over his neck, looking at Jooheon.  
“You never come to this area of the HQ Joo’, you found something ?” A wide grin spread over Jooheon's face, his dimples showing, and if Hyungwon didn't knew Jooheon so well, he would find him cute. 

“Actually yes.” the younger man shifting on one leg and shoving his hands in his pockets proudly. “I think I've found I.M's real identity, and by that, the proof that Lee Minhyuk is actively linked to the rebellion.”  
“So.. Lee Minhyuk has been I.M the whole time ?” Hyungwon asked carefully.  
"No” Jooheon smile got even bigger, if it was even possible “But I'm also almost one hundred sure that his cousin is.”

“Which means…”

“That Lee Changkyun, originally named Im Changkyun before he was adopted buy Lee Minhyuk’s parents, his the hacker of the rebellion” Shownu finished the sentence and Jooheon squealed with excitation.  
Hyungwon pulled on a smile and patted Jooheon's shoulder, telling him he did a good job.

Changkyun, Hyungwon thought, recalling the face of the dying man he tried to save during the raid, and the knot in his stomach only got tighter.. That means that the man who hacked his system the previous night was the same person he helped… And despite the anxiety that was slowly building up in his mind, Hyungwon felt relieved that the latter had survived his injuries.. 

\---

It was late at night when Hyungwon finally exited the building to head home, enveloped in his black coat. He had waited the whole day for any information from the rebels but nothing came and he started to think that maybe he had been trapped.. That it was a plan of Alpha to find the traitors and that maybe Shownu went to talk about his behaviour to the Higher ups.

His thread of thoughts was suddenly cut off by a little pressure on his back and a presence behind him. 

“Don’t turn around.” a voice said “See the taxi at the crosswalk ? Get in it.”

Hyungwon nodded slightly, swallowing hard in an attempt to get rid of the lump in his throat. Slowly he made his way to the taxi, he opened the passenger door carefully and slowly sat on the seat before closing the door.  
Immediately something was pressed against his temple and he raised his hands by reflex, closing his eyes in a second to keep his composure.

“There’s a radar disrupter in that car so no one will be able to reach for you or track you during the time you’re in it. Still, I want you to hand me your phone and deactivate your implant.” a strong but feminine voice told him and he nodded again silently, opening his eyes and lowering one of his hands to reach for his phone and hand it to the person seated behind him. He then gently tapped at the corner of his left eye to disconnect his system. The gun that was pressed against his temple disappeared and he breathed slowly, still looking at the road in front of him. He didn’t even realised that the car had started driving.  
There was three other peoples in the taxi, all of them masked and armed.

“Good.” the woman said again. “You understand that we don’t know if we can fully trust you yet and that we have to take… Measures. We’re not going to waste time with you, have you made your decision ?”

Hyungwon inhaled deeply, thinking one last time about the pros and the cons. About Yoo Kihyun trapped like an agonising animal, about Changkyun bleeding to death looking like a terrified child, about those kids running after his car….. And Hyungwon exhaled before he looked in the rearview mirror, looking straight at the masked faces reflecting in it. 

“I’ll help you. I’ll give you the information I own and help you to get Yoo Kihyun out of the Headquarters.” He saw a faint smile appearing behind the mask of the woman and she tapped her ear. “Boss, he’s in.” she said and Hyungwon heard a tiny sizzling sound before she nodded.  
“We’re all glad to hear that.” she said, her smile noticeable in her voice. “Go ahead.”

Hyungwon sighed, unaware of the way he started to play with his own fingers. “The plan of getting the second head of the rebellion was made by Son Shownu, he’s probably the strongest element of Alpha and has been put on the list of the people who would be able to rule over it some days. He.. There’s a spy in your rank. That’s how we managed to trap Yoo Kihyun. I don’t know his identity but he was supposed to be the one alerting Kihyun of the situation.” 

Hyungwon paused, letting the information sink before he continued “The plan was to get any bits of info coming from Kihyun before executing him on the main plaza of the city as… An example of what happens when you rebel against Alpha… The higher ups knows that the rebellion is rising, they want to scare people to prevent them to turn against the them.”  
Hyungwon paused and thought about his own situation for a second , at this rate, if he was caught he would end up being executed before Yoo Kihyun. 

“They want to get it done in two weeks but your man isn’t saying any words despite how… Rough the interrogation is. In any ways, we have to do that quickly if you want to see him alive again, he’s pretty weak, but I’ll try my best to keep him in a decent condition. He’s kept in the right aisle of the building, one of the most securised area, only a few people can have access there.”  
There was a bit of silence in the car and Hyungwon only fidgeted with his hands a bit more, feeling a drop of cold sweat running down his neck. 

“Also… J.bee have found I.M’s identity today… You better put him and Lee Minhyuk in security as soon as possible. They won’t hesitate to get rid of them now that they have a proof they’re affiliated to the rebellion.” He finished and he heard the woman whispering something and again that sizzling from her earpiece .  
The car slowly pulled over and Hyungwon noticed they parked in front of his apartment complex.  
The woman sighed before motioning to the driver to unlock the doors. “We will take care of that matter.. As for now you’ll be in constant contact with us to come up with a plan as fast as possible. Do your work as usual, if you’re caught it’s the end for both you and Kihyun.” she calmly said and Hyungwon breathed a “I know” before he exited the car and went inside his apartment complex without looking back.

 

\---

 

 _“J.bee have found I.M’s identity today”_ the voice echoed in the room where Hoseok and Changkyun were listening to the ongoing conversation with Chae Hyungwon. Hoseok felt Changkyun’s entire body tensing next to him and even if he remained calm in appearance, a thick wave of uneasiness suddenly washed over him. 

“I’m taking care of Minhyuk” Hoseok said both for Exy and Changkyun, squeezing the latter’s shoulder tightly “Find the blueprints of the section of the building Chae talked about, concentrate on finding a way out for Kihyun.” 

“How did he…” Changkyun murmured, looking absently at his screen.  
“Hey” Hoseok said calmly to snap Changkyun out of his thoughts. “That’s not important right now. Nothing will happen as long as you’re here. No one will find us here. I’m getting Minhyuk right now, he’s gonna be okay too. Concentrate on finding a way to get Ki’ out, talk with Chae to start a plan of actions okay ? I’m taking care of the rest.” he said, smiling at the younger. 

“Okay.. yeah okay…” Changkyun answered, voice low and eyes still on his screen. 

Hoseok was about to reach the door when the younger turned around on his seat and called for him.  
“Hyung.”  
“Yeah ?” Hoseok turned to look at him.  
“If anything happens to Minhyuk hyung you’ll have to teach me how to use a gun properly.”  
The serious tone added to Changkyun’s already deep voice made Hoseok shift uneasily in his clothes but he nodded nonetheless. 

“Nothing will happen to him.” Hoseok reassured before he exited the room and ran to his car, sending a quick text to Minhyuk. 

_Close the bar. Turn the lights off. Stay upstairs with the riffle until I’m here. Alpha know for kyun and you. I’m omw. And don’t you dare to tell me you’re staying at the bar. It’s serious._

Hoseok probably never drove that fast. And the worst part was that his mind was going at the same speed at his car right now. Hyunwoo was the mastermind behind Alpha’s plan the get Kihyun… He had a spy inside of the rebellion… And Hoseok was trying so hard to remember who told Kihyun about the North base attack..But he couldn’t and… 

If only Kihyun was there.  
That was all he could think about.

His implant buzzed and Hoseok blinked to open the text he received. Minhyuk.

 _Is kyun okay ? Is he safe ? Gunhee is with me right now we should be fine until you arrive._

Gunhee.  
Hoseok’s blood ran colder than it already was. He was the one who informed Kihyun about the attack.  
“Shit” Hoseok screamed and pressed even more on the accelerator, adrenaline taking over every nerves of his body.  
Hoseok blinked again to send Minhyuk a voice message. 

“Minhyuk you have to listen to me. Don’t say anything to Gunhee, he’s the spy who got Kihyun caught by Alpha, don’t do anything and wait for me I’ll be there in five. Also.. I’m begging you, don’t do anything reckless.” 

 

\---

Minhyuk opened the voice message he received from Hoseok as he was getting an old bottle of whisky from behind the counter and stopped in his tracks, looking up at Gunhee who was sitting at the counter, absentmindedly playing with his empty glass. He wanted to believe that Hoseok was joking but he doubted the older would joke about something so serious..  
Straightening up behind the bar, he calmly poured some whisky in Gunhee’s glass and the other thanked him with a smile. Silently, Minhyuk got the rifle he was hiding behind the bar closer to him before he leaned on the counter with a sigh. 

“I… Still think that either Alpha had a plan and knew about Kihyun being the right arm or they just got lucky..” Minhyuk outside the window, shifting slightly to let his head rest in his palm.  
Gunhee looked at him and simply hummed, taking a sip from his drink. “Dunno man.. That whole situation is a mess, do you think the boss is going to try to get him out ?” he sighed and Minhyuk internally screamed.  
“Who knows… He cares about Kihyun but cares even more about the rebellion.. If he does try to get Kihyun out he’s going to play it low.”  
Gunhee looked like he was thinking hard for a second before he downed the rest of his drink. 

“The only thing I know for sure..” Minhyuk started, “ is that if Alpha had a plan and managed to trap Kihyun like that… It’s that they must’ve gotten help from someone.. An insider. And if it’s the case, Hoseok is going to track them down and make them pay. I’ll also give them a piece of my mind. “ 

Maybe he had been a little too serious because Gunhee was looking at him with something in his eyes that was looking like….fear.  
They heard a car door being closed outside and someone running towards the front door, Minhyuk leaned to see outside the window just to get a glimpse of Hoseok.  
The red hair got a hold on his rifle and breathed slowly, counting the seconds as he waited for Hoseok to enter. And when he finally did, Minhyuk stepped back suddenly an pulled his rifle up, aiming at Gunhee’s head without hesitation. The younger dropped his glass on the floor, shocked by the sudden change of atmosphere, the sound of chattering glass echoing in the bar. Hoseok had pulled his gun up too and Gunhee looked like a deer caught in headlights. 

“G-guys wh-what are you doing…” Gunhee trembled, raising his hands slowly as he was glancing between Hoseok and Minhyuk nervously.  
“Spare the acting innocent part would you Gunhee.” Hoseok’s voice was cold and low with anger, he stepped closer to the other men quickly glancing at Minhyuk. “Everything’s okay ?”  
“Five more minutes and I would’ve done something reckless.” Minhyuk sighed, shaking slightly with the rifle in hands. Hoseok hummed, a faint smile making a quick appearance on his face. 

“I-I can explain…” Gunhee suddenly blurted out, turning around to fully look at Hoseok.  
“I don’t need explanations Gunhee. They probably offered you money or a better place to say or… An honorific title for helping Alpha to get rid of the rebels.. Right ? There’s just two things that are really bothering me right now….” Hoseok paused, making everyone else in the room hold their breaths, “Why Kihyun. Why not me ? You know who am I and for what we know you might as well have given my name to Alpha already so why Kihyun ?” 

Gunhee swallowed, he had turned white in the span of two minutes and broke into a sweat that was making his hair stick to his forehead “They… They didn’t asked me for the boss… That Shownu guy was obsessed by the the idea of reaching the second in rank. They probably didn’t fought I was important enough to know your face” he scoffed dryly “I could’ve given them your name but the fact that they were searching for Kihyun was the best opportunity for me, I wanted him gone for a long time now” he grinned.

“What do you mean ?” 

Gunhee scoffed again, shaking his head as he ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve wanted to get rid since. I can’t stand him and his bossy ass, he’s completely insane and no one sees it. He keeps on thinking he’s better th-”

“You fucking piece of shit.” Minhyuk walked around the counter, dropping the rifle on the floor to punch Gunhee in the face. The latter fell off the stole he was sitting on at the impact, falling on the floor where the remainings of his glass were scattered.  
Minhyuk quickly blocked Gunhee on the floor, launching punches after punches at his face until Gunhee stopped fighting.  
“You really sold Kihyun because you can’t stand him ?When you don’t know anything about him ? When he’d been sacrificing himself for the well being of everyone for years ?! How can you be such a heartless son of a…. ”

Hoseok was standing next to them, gun still in hands but not aimed at Gunhee anymore. He couldn’t believe it, nor even get angry. He just couldn’t believe that Kihyun had been taken away from him for...That. Hoseok’s mind went blank for a few seconds, trying to organise his thoughts and not noticing what was happening around him.

_Should I kill him._  
Should I make him pay.  
Should I… 

Hoseok sighed and shook his head before putting his hand on Minhyuk’s shoulder, stopping him in his furor. He looked at a barely conscious Gunhee, face bloody and nose broken.  
“I think he got it Minhyuk.”  
“I’m going to kill him.” Minhyuk exhaled shakily, panting and eyes glossy with tears of anger. He slowly sat on the side, wiping his bloody hands on his jeans.

“What about we take care of it when we get Kihyun back ? Not that I’m not terribly tempted to end him but he might be helpful. He managed to meet with Alpha multiple times after all..” Hoseok suggested, grabbing Gunhee’s collar to lift him up before knocking him out completely with the barrel of his gun. “And we need to go.”  
Minhyuk nodded, slowly getting up and picking up his rifle.”I’ll make sure they can’t find anything in Changkyun’s stuffs. I’ll be there in a second.” 

Before Hoseok could answer Minhyuk was stumbling at the back of the room to go up the stairs. Sighing, he got up as well and lifted Gunhee to drag him out of the bar after making sure that no one was outside.  
Hoseok opened the trunk of his car; half throwing Gunhee’s unconscious body in it before closing it. He then sat at the driver’s seat with a sigh, running his sweaty palms in his hair, getting rid of the few strands that were getting in his eyes. He waited for Minhyuk far what seemed an eternity before he was the red hair jogging his way to the car with a few things in his arms. After he got into the car as well, Hoseok noticed that Minhyuk was holding an old game controller in his hands, rubbing his thumb over one of the buttons.

“What is it ?” he softly asked as he started driving and Minhyuk kept his eyes on the controller.  
“Changkyun and I always… We promised to each other that if we couldn’t live here anymore after he joined the rebellion.. No one else had the right to live here. It’s our property...right.”

Hoseok hummed, frowning slightly as he couldn’t point what Minhyuk was exactly implying. 

“Seems like… That time has come… “ the red hair sighed, pulling his lips in a thin line “I don’t want these morons from Alpha to ruin the Newton with their nasty hands. I won’t give them the satisfaction to ruin that.” his thumb hovered over the triangle button and he suddenly looked up in the rearview mirror and Hoseok had never seen someone looking as nostalgic as Minhyuk looked at that right moment.

With a deep breathe Minhyuk pressed the button, eyes fixed on the mirror.

At first Hoseok only heard the detonation in the distance before the realisation hit him. He pulled over to the side of the road just in time to see the tiny bar blowing up into flames, the blue neon flying over distinctively in the night as it gave his few last glitches before disappearing into the mix of flames and smoke  
And it pulled in Hoseok’s chest. It pulled hard and even more when he glanced at Minhyuk who was looking at the scene silently, tears running down his cheeks.

“Drive please.” he said faintly and Hoseok winced at the broken sound of his voice before he started the engine again, glancing one last time at the burning building in the distance. For a while they drove in silence, the only sounds disrupting it being the sound of the engine and Minhyuk sniffing before he finally scoffed sadly, looking at the road.

“I guess it makes me an official right now huh.”  
“If you want to Min’. I won’t force anything on you.”  
“Thanks.” Minhyuk smiled and his voice softened. “But I kinda want my revenge now… If we manage to get Kihyun back and… Defeat Alpha maybe I’ll be able to rebuild it one day.” 

The almost dreamy tone in Minhyuk’s voice made Hoseok’s chest hurt again but he nodded with a smile.

 

\---

Changkyun waited for Hoseok to be out of the room to take his head between his hands. How did J.Bee had found him… He had always covered his traces, never exposed any of his personal datas on the system and even modified his implant’s program to be safe from any cyber attacks coming from the other hacker but also to protect Minhyuk.. He just couldn’t get it and also felt his pride being thrown into the trash bin.  
The young man sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes before looking at his screen again. 

“Concentrate on your task…” he told himself “You have important stuffs to do.”

Clearing his voice he cracked his fingers before going back to work, mouthing words of encouragement for himself.  
First, the blueprints of the aisle where Kihyun was held captive. Easy.  
After a few clicks he had it on his screen and studied it for a while, grabbing the notepad next to him to write down ideas of plans. It was still impossible the enter the database of the headquarters for more than a minute unless you were from the inside so he decided to move on to Chae Hyungwon. Selecting another tab on his screen he looked at the CCTV he hacked the night before.

It was giving view to the doctor’s living room where he was currently resting, seated on the couch with…

“Is that a cat….” Changkyun breathed and squinted at the screen for a few seconds….. He couldn’t hide the smile that was tugging at his lips.  
“Soft” he added before shaking his head. 

He decided that it was time to have a little conversation with the man on his screen so he typed a few things and waited for Hyungwon to respond.  
He saw the man freezing on his screen, looking at the wolf icon that has appeared in front of his eyes. Hyungwon looked around before he sighed and opened the call. 

“Yes....?” the hesitant voice emmaned from Changkyun’s speakers and he smiled again.  
“Sorry to make you freak out. I made sure no one can hack our conversation you can relax.” the hacker said and Hyungwon shifted a bit on his couch, making the cat leave it’s place on his knees. 

“So you’re I.M…. Right ?” Changkyun smiled.  
“Bingo. Am I that famous ?”

Hyungwon snorted loudly “I wouldn’t call you being in danger and me saving your ass for the second time being famous but… If it pleases you. Gotta admit that you make my colleague go nuts most of the time too.”  
“Good to know, that’s my job.” 

Hyungwon hummed and relaxed on the couch, letting his head rest on the backrest of the couch, eyes fixed of the ceiling “I assume you didn’t called just to chitchat with me right ?”  
“As much as I would like to, you’re right. I need more information about the area Kihyun is kept in… What type of security around the cell, how many guard.. That kind of stuff.”

Hyungwon stayed silent for a moment and Changkyun saw him squinting before he sighed “Biometric doors that you can only open if you’re allowed staff… Twelve guys are taking two hours shifts to look over the cell, there's always someone in front of the door.. The interrogation starts in the morning… Then it’s my turn.” Hyungwon detailed and Changkyun was hearing the sleepiness in the other man’s tone.  
“I see.” the hacker said, noting everything down on a new page of his notebook. “Also… I wanted to thank you.”  
“For ?” Hyungwon straightened up a bit, stretching is arms on top of his head. 

“For saving me in the North Base.”

Hyungwon stopped in his tracks and pursed his lips a little before nodding slightly. “No need to thank me, it’s my job, I’m glad you survived.” Hyungwon smiled softly. Changkyun’s heart might or might not have skipped a bit and he might or might not be smiling a little too much but he nodded as he watched the other man on his screen.  
“I’ll come back to you soon once I get more detailed informations, also don’t forget to feed your cat the bowl is empty.” he said and laughed when he saw Hyungwon turning around in all directions with wide eyes. 

“How do you kn-”  
“I’m a hacker, Hyungwon. Talk to you later.”

Changkyun hang up but he looked at his screen for a bit as he watched Hyungwon observing each corner of his apartment suspiciously before heading to the kitchen to feed his monster. And Changkyun hoped that one day he’d have a taste of what it is to have a peaceful life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always all sorts of feedbacks are very much appreciated !!!  
> You can find me on twitter : @snowonnie


	7. Out of time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for violence and emotional rollercoaster.  
> There's a lot going on in that chapter, enjoy !

When Hoseok and Minhyuk got back to the Headquarters, the first thing they did was to take a still unconscious Gunhee to Changkyun for him to deactivate his implant and prevent him from giving any more information to Alpha. Hoseok had to explain to Changkyun how he found out that Gunhee was the one who sold Kihyun to the government, the spy that Hyungwon was talking about a few hours prior, the one that was responsible of the death of hundreds of rebels and Changkyun’s injury. 

“I’m gonna lock him up in a cell for now and take Minhyuk’s stuffs to your room.” Hoseok said as he looked at Changkyun while patting Minhyuk’s shoulder. “I think you two need to talk a little..” he finally said before leaving the two cousins together in Changkyun’s work space. 

“Hyung you didn’t say a word since you’re here… Did Gunhee did anything to you ?” Changkyun asked worriedly, getting up and grabbing his clutches to approach his older cousin.

Minhyuk sighed, closing his eyes for a second before closing the remaining space between him and Changkyun to hug the younger man tightly, a hand going in the dark strands of Changkyuns hair to play with it nervously. 

“You know that ever since you started to live with my parents and I… I promised I would take care of you like a brother.. right ? That I would always do what I think would be the best to make us safe, make you safe, whatever it would take me…”

“Yeah.. Yeah hyung…” Changkyun said, a knot forming in his stomach at Minhyuk’s words… “Min… You’re scaring me…”

“I... “ Minhyuk inhaled and held the youngest a little closer “You’re the last family I have left and I’ll never let anyone hurt you ever again, I just can’t lose you and even less if it’s because of Alpha so.. As they found out we’re related… And that neither of us can live and take care of the Newton anymore I..Didn’t want to risk anything.. So I decided to do it.”

It took a few seconds for it to click in Changkyun’s mind.. Before he remembered that system he created, that virus he implanted in an old game console at would make the whole place blew up if it was plugged and activated by the controller..  
Slowly Changkyun let go of his clutches -the sound of metal hitting the floor resonating in the room- and softly hugged Minhyuk back.  
They stayed in silence, and Changkyun chest was filled with sadness and guilt.  
For as long as he could remember Minhyuk has always been here to take care of him. When his parent passed away when he was six, he had moved with his mom’s sister’s family and was welcomed by Minhyuk’s smile and kindness. The older always cheered him up, always took care of him and protected him. Even when his own parents passed away, Minhyuk always made sure that Changkyun was living a decent life. 

So Changkyun sighed softly and patted Minhyuk’s back, putting on a small smile on his face. “If you’re trying to apologise for doing something you thought was the right thing to do and, I also think it was… Then you better stop now. It.. Just a place we stayed at..” 

Minhyuk lifted his head a bit, a sad smile tugging at his dry lips, he was looking so worn out that Changkyun feared he would collapse any moment. 

“We agreed on doing this if it was needed one day, it was needed, I also would’ve done it if I were in your place.” Changkyun reassured once again and Minhyuk nodded, letting go of his cousin to pick up his clutches and hand it to him. 

“I also took a decision.” Minhyuk added and Changkyun tilted his head to the side questioningly “I decided to join the rebellion, officially.” 

“What… But you always said you wanted to stay out of it becau-”  
“Because you needed someone to back you up back there.” Minhyuk cut him off “But now we’re both here and Kihyun is still trapped god knows where with Alpha’s dogs and I’m not gonna stay arm crossed watching everyone moving their ass while I’m staying here like a wife waiting for her husband to come back from war.” 

Changkyun couldn’t help but smile at the comparison despite the fact that… Letting Minhyuk enter the rebellion.. officially... didn’t pleased him that much.

“If it’s what you want….” Changkyun sighed “As much as I don’t like the idea I know that no one can stop you once you’ve got something in your mind..” he finished with a tug in his chest  
.  
Because as much as Changkyun’s was Minhyuk’s last family member, Minhyuk was the only family Changkyun has ever had.

 

\---

 

Coaxing Kihyun into trusting him was probably the hardest thing Hyungwon has ever had to do. It was like offering help to a wild animal who never was in the presence of an human before.  
Hyungwon couldn’t blame him in any ways, thought.

Everyday he would come back to new dark bruises and nasty cuts on the man’s body, his clothes drenched in sweat and tainted of blood. Hyungwon didn’t even wanted to know what was done to Kihyun during the interrogation sessions. His imagination was giving him the worse images already, and he knew he was not far from the reality.

Changkyun was probably his only way to fully get Kihyun to trust him. He would tell him stuffs that happened that only Kihyun would know about, would give Hyungwon the answers to Kihyun’s questions when there was only the two of them in the cell.  
Hyungwon didn’t know if Kihyun was really starting to believe him, or if he was just slowly giving up, but after about five days, he felt a change in his behaviour towards him. 

When Hyungwon entered the cell that day, he was determined to give Kihyun the last proof that he was really on his side. Changkyun had managed to “do some hacker stuffs” like he liked to say and got Exy to give Hyungwon an implant that he had to inject to Kihyun. The goal being to establish a communication between Kihyun and the rebellion for as long as they can. 

_“There’s a radar disrupter in the cell but if you use the old radio frequencies you might be able to talk to him.” Hyungwon had said the previous night as they were working on their plan. “I can easily hide the implant in a syringe, we need to set up a time, I usually go to his cell after every interrogations, around two thirty."_

_“Okayyyyy….” Changkyun’s deep voice echoed in his ears and he heard the younger aggressively typing on a keyboard “ Easy !” he finally exclaimed and Hyungwon smiled slightly. “I’ll pass it on to Exy she must be able to reach you in about two hours.”_

_“Hope it’s works.” Hyungwon sighed and Changkyun hummed in response. “It’ll will, I’ll be waiting for the implant to be activated tomorrow. If i don’t get any news we’ll find another way.” Hyungwon had nodded, knowing that the other man was probably looking at the cctv, before he hang up._

And now he was here, the implant hidden in a syringe, hoping that it would work because… They didn’t had much time left.  
Kihyun was lying on his back, hands handcuffed to the railing, skin so place he could think it was turning grey. His breathing was shallow, chest barely moving… 

_He is really running out of time._

Hyungwon approached him and made sure to make eyes contact to be certain he was aware of his presence. He had to look away, thought, Kihyun’s tired and glassy eyes reminding him of the ones of the kids he couldn’t save.  
Hyungwon first made sure that no one was observing them from the big window giving view to the cell and took out the syringe out of the pocket of his blouse, fully aware that the other man was eyeing his every move.

Kihyun shifted, a frown tugging at his eyebrows. 

“I’m gonna ask you to trust me and keep it low.” Hyungwon said calmly as he gently turned Kihyun’s head to the side with one hand, the other holding the syringe. “If someone appears behind the window just close your eyes to signal me.” And before that Kihyun could start resisting or asking more questions, Hyungwon stabbed the syringe in his neck and quickly emptied it’s content. It made Kihyun wince, and Hyungwon’s pulse was going wild, hoping that Changkyun’s plan would work.

A few seconds passed during which Hyungwon started to take care of Kihyun’s wounds before he heard the familiar buzzing of the implant.  
Kihyun tensed, wide eyes looking at Hyungwon in shock, and Hyungwon couldn’t help the small smile that escaped him. 

“Kyu….Kyunie ?...” Kihyun let out a shaky murmur and pulled his lips in a thin line, tears threatening to fall. 

 

\---

 

When Kihyun’s voice finally echoed in both his and Hoseok’s ears, both Changkyun and him let out a relieved sigh, Hoseok running his hands over his face.

“Yeah hyung it’s me…. Gosh.. It feels so good to hear you… Hoseok hyung is here too. I know we’re all… Really relieved right now but you need to listen okay..” Changkyun softly said, voice filled with emotions.  
Kihyun hummed and then sniffed and Hoseok closed his eyes, it was so good, so good and so hard at the same time. 

“Kihyun..” He finally said, voice a bit shaky “We don’t know for how long this is gonna work so.. I just want you to hold on still for a few more days, we’re getting you out, okay ?... We’re making a plan and Chae is on our side… He’s our insider, I promise you that you can trust him.. So stay strong for a bit more, we’re getting you out of here soon.“

The only thing they could hear was the faint noise of Kihyun’s sniffing and a choked out sob. And Hoseok’s heart had never hurt that bad. He never heard Kihyun being so broken, so weak, not even when they first met.

“You…” Kihyun’s faint voice said “You better hurry… I don’t know… For how long I can handle that.. please get me out of here ‘seok..” a pause “please get me out..”

The communication got cut after that and a heavy silence took place between Changkyun and Hoseok. Kihyun has never shown so much vulnerability, never asked to be saved, never asked favours to anyone.  
Hoseok wanted to run. To scream. To pour his anger somewhere. But there was nothing he could do until their plan was flawless. They couldn’t risk to lose Kihyun during his extraction.. Hoseok wouldn’t be able to handle this, neither would Changkyun or Minhyuk.

_They just has to get him out. Failure was not an option._

So Hoseok sighed ,turning to look at Changkyun who was absently looking at his keyboard. The younger was dealing with a lot of things lately and had the most responsibilities amongst all the people who were involved. 

“You think it’s gonna work ?” the younger finally said, voice way deeper than usual, tainted with worry.

“We don’t have any other choices. Chae said that the leaders of Alpha were holding a celebration the day before Kihyun’s…. execution.. We need to use this as a distraction to get him out.”

“And what if it’s a part of their plan ? What if they’re waiting for us to show up on that day…” Changkyun looked up at Hoseok and Hoseok ran a nervous hand on the back of his neck.

“That’s why we need to be precise, we need to think about all the scenarios possible… We need to make this work, there’s no other option.” Changkyun hummed and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as a sign of frustration before he got back to work, Hoseok staying with him most of the day. 

Later during the night, Changkyun went to his shared room with Minhyuk to sleep for a few hours after Hoseok forced him to take some rest. Hoseok, him, went on to check how the rest of the rebels were doing, helping here and there, thinking that maybe if his mind was occupied, Kihyun's voice would stop echoing painfully in his head.

It didn't.

It was maybe three in the morning when Hoseok entered Gunhee’s cell, slamming the door and locking it behind him, the motion probably woke Gunhee up as the gave a startled look at Hoseok.  
The light in the room was dim, but it was enough for Hoseok to see the thin layer of sweat that was coating Gunhee’s forehead, or the way his hands were slightly shaking. 

“Why are you keeping me alive.” Gunhee asked, voice deep and shaky.  
“For the same reason why Kihyun is still alive as for now.” Hoseok answered calmly, crouching in front of Gunhee who crawled closer to the wall, back completely pushed against it.

“And you think I’m going to say something.”  
“It’ll be better for you to talk than to make me force you to talk, don’t you think ?”  
Gunhee whimpered, looking away from Hoseok’s dark eyes for a second and Hoseok got up with a scoff, shaking his head slightly. He started to pace in the tiny room, hands in the pockets of his black trousers.

“You know.. I wonder how you managed to look Changkyun right in the eyes knowing that he almost died in the North base and that he won’t be able to use his leg properly anymore… Or how you managed to laugh with Minhyuk knowing that he almost lost the two persons he cherishes the most in his life because of you… Or even how you managed to… Look at me and say to my face that you did that because you what ? Hate Kihyun ? You got hundreds of people killed, some of them where your friends, and all of that for what ? Because you can’t stand Kihyun… “ 

Hoseok clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth and shook his head “Tell me the truth Gunhee. I’m not an idiot, and I doubt you can be that stupid either.” he looked at the younger an again.

It was not easy to make Hoseok angry, he always tried to stay composed the most he could until there was no other option for him than to snap. But anyone could see the anger boiling and rising in him, anyone could see how his eyes would become darker, his voice colder, and the way he would slowly clench and unclench his fists at his side.  
And maybe that was what Gunhee was seeing right now, the anger slowly rising behind the apparent composure that Hoseok was showing.

“So you better talk before I lose my temper for good.”

“I…” Gunhee started and Hoseok arched a brow, pausing where he was, waiting for him to continue.  
“Do you know how it feels to constantly be in someone’s shadow ? I’ve been here for as long as you were there, I’ve been your friend for longer than him...When the boss passed away and said you would take the lead I really thought I… I would be your second. I’ve been here for longer… But you chose him because you…. Got soft for him, you got soft and you blinded yourself from what he really is. He’s sick Hoseok, it’s not…. Normal to be so...apathetic and violent.”

Gunhee’s words were like tiny needles piercing through Hoseok’s skin and he felt himself losing the last bits of self-control he was holding onto since he entered the room.  
It took him a second he picked up Gunhee from the floor with one hand, the other crashing powerfully against his nose, a eery crack echoing after the punch.  
Blood immediately started to drip from Gunhee’s nostrils and he winced loudly. 

Jealousy. 

That’s what Gunhee was talking about all along. That’s what pushed him into becoming an enemy.. He was jealous of Kihyun’s position… Of Kihyun’s importance in his life despite the fact that Gunhee as been his friend for a bit longer. It made Hoseok’s stomach twist with fury and he launched another punch at Gunhee’s face before dropping the man on the floor without any ceremony.

“See maybe you’re the one being apathetic Gunhee. And maybe that’s why I didn’t chose you as my right hand back then. You’re not made for that job and will never be, even without Kihyun being around. It’s not about him being closer to me or not it’s about who is the more… Fitting to the job. You just proved me that I made the right choice..”  
Hoseok scoffed and looked down at the other man, his now old friend who he couldn’t feel anything but anger and disgust towards now..

“You’ve always favoured him stop lying !” Gunhee suddenly bursted “From the day he stepped here you were head over heels for him ! And you were just blind enough to let him take advantages of you and he got the power he so badly needed, to the point of letting him fuck you or whatever the fuck goes one between the both of you ! And you can’t see that so I needed to do something to open your eyes ! You don’t need him !”

That was the last straw for Hoseok. Something snapped inside of him and he turned around to kick Gunhee in the stomach, and he couldn’t stop. All that anger, all the fear and frustration was being let out. Maybe he heard a bone cracking and at some point Gunhee pleaded him to stop but.. Hoseok kicked him, dragged him up by the collar, punched him until the body went limp in his grip.

Only Hoseok’s ragged breath was being heard and he let go of Gunhee’s collar and the man fell on the floor heavily, still breathing, but barely.  
Hoseok wiped his hands on his trouser and tried to calm his breathing, his eyes fixed on Gunhee’s unmoving body.  
He crossed the few meters that were separating him from the door an unlocked it slowly, pausing before opening it.

“That’s where you were wrong Gunhee. I do need him. And so does the rest of the rebellion. I’ll make sure to sell your ass to Alpha so you can understand how it feels to be betrayed.”

 

Hoseok didn’t went to his room after that, instead entering Kihyun’s empty one. He looked at the neatly made bed, at the stacks of books next to the bedside table.. At Kihyun’s broken reading glasses resting on the nightstand, a thin layer of dust covering it.. He inhaled the clean scent of Kihyun’s room, and laid on his bed, heart heavy and hands still trembling. And Kihyun would probably gently nag at him for lying on his bed still clothed and dirty, with his knuckles busted open with dried blood crusting over his skin. And Hoseok closed his eyes, inhaling that faint woody scent mixed with orange blossom that was following Kihyun everywhere.  
It was relaxing, and Hoseok fell into a light slumber, his mind allowing him a little bit of rest for the first time in days. 

\----

Time flew by way too quickly to Hyungwon’s taste. 

He never felt this worn out before. And he often asked himself why he was doing that… Why was he doing that for a complete stranger who was supposedly from the enemy’s side, why was he taking to many responsibilities in that story…. But there was always this voice at the back of his head, a voice that sounded a lot like his own, who was telling him that it was because it was right thing to do.  
Today was the day. Today was the day his life was going to change in an irreversible way. He was maybe living his last few hours, he only had two options… Success, or death. And strangely enough he was feeling pretty calm about it. Before leaving for the party that Alpha, he took a last look at his apartment, all the comfort he builded for himself during the past few years of his life, all that luxury he tried to hide in to make himself believe he was living a good life. It was over for him.

Hyungwon looked down when he felt Calliope rubbing against his leg, meowing softly, and Hyungwon picked the animal up in his arms, planting a gentle kiss between the ears. 

“Hey you… I’m sorry... So many things are going to change… But Changkyun promised you would be safe no matter what happens.. You’ll find a good human if I don’t come back. I know it.” he chuckled as the cat only meows in answered, curiously looking up at him. He buried his nose in the grey fur for a moment, closing his eyes and inhaling that comforting scent that only cats had. He was scared, of course, and his little companion must have felt it as Calliope started to purr loudly and didn’t stopped purring until Hyungwon closed the door of his apartment behind him, probably for the last time.

When he reached the building, Hyungwon joined the rest of Alpha’s elite in the highest level of the Tower. Jooheon was the first to come to him, the hacker was dressed in a black and classy tuxedo, his hair pushed back neatly. He was looking good, and when Hyungwon told him so, the younger man smiled brightly, saying that he wanted to impress Jihyun tonight..  
Hyungwon had smiled before grabbing a drink just to fit with the rest of the people attending the party, wondering how someone could find a woman as cold and manipulative as Jihyun attractive. 

Shownu joined them later in his white uniform, dozens of medals displayed on the left side of his chest. There was a tension between the two men that Jooheon quickly picked on and tried to change the mood because they “had to celebrate Alpha’s first great achievement in their mission to take the rebellion down”.  
Shownu had agreed with a nod of the head, Hyungwon with a pressed smile, downing the rest of his drink in one sip. He needed at least that.

It was close to eleven when Hyungwon excused himself to the bathroom, heartbeat raging in his chest ; it was time. 

When he got to the bathroom he locked himself in a stole and took out the syringe he was hiding in the inside pocket of his blazer jacket, with a deep breathe he injected himself the same type of implant that he injected to Kihyun a few days before in order to communicate with Changkyun.  
He waited a few seconds before a soft buzzing started behind his right ear. 

“Is it working ?” Changkyun’s deep voice said in his ear and Hyungwon smiled in relief.  
“Yes..” he whispered back.  
“Nice.. Okay.” a pause “We got to the city, I’m going to disable the CCTV of the right section of the building in five minutes, then you’ll have fifteen minutes before Alpha’s system will automatically trigger the alarm to get him out by the parking lot you told us about. We’re here, we’ll wait.” 

Hyungwon couldn’t ignore the anxious tone in Changkyun’s voice and he exhaled shakily. He made sure that the gun and silencer he was hiding under his jacket were still there before he unlocked the door.

“I’m going. Get ready to fire if we manage to get out.” 

Changkyun hummed, breathing a small “good luck” before cutting the communication, the buzzing behind Hyungwon’s ear vanishing in a second.

The plan was to get rid of the guards who were keeping Kihyun’s cell safe and to get him out through the underground parking lot where the rebels would wait for them and cover them in case they were followed..  
Calmly he reached the right section of the building, and stopped at the last corner of the hallway before Kihyun’s room to take his gun out, taking the security off, he breathed deeply, looking at his watch.

Twelve minutes left. 

There was no time to hesitate.  
Quickly, he stepped out of the corner and aimed his gun at the two guards. One bullet. Two bullets. And two bodies dropping on the floor.  
Acid started quickly rose up in Hyungwon’s throat at the thought of what he had just done, but he decided to ignore it and instead hurried inside Kihyun’s cell.

When he entered the other man instantly looked at him and exhaled loudly, observing Hyungwon as he was unlocking the handcuffs that were restraining Kihyun from any movements. 

“On a scale on one to ten how much do you think yourself able to walk.” Hyungwon asked seriously as he took a shot of adrenaline and another thing from to the drawer next to the bed.  
“I’d say four.” Kihyun answered as seriously before grimacing when Hyungwon gave him the shot.  
“Then let’s make it six. Okay, now get up.” He gave his hand to help Kihyun getting in a seated position. “We have to be quick.”

“Quick for what ?”

Hyungwon’s blood ran cold and Kihyun’s face was now completely drained of any colours as Shownu’s voice echoed in the cell.

“See… I knew that there was something off with you lately but I just… Told myself that you were just feeling a bit out of your shoes and repressed all my intuitions but… I should always trust my intuitions, right, you even told me that once. Turn around Hyungwon.” his voice was cold, so cold that it made Hyungwon shiver.

“I always respected you Shownu. I always thought of you as an honorable and humble man.” Hyungwon calmly said despite the shaking of his hands as he grabbed his gun. “I thought you were one of the few men who knows how to differentiate what’s good and what’s bad.. But I guess I was just as blinded as everyone else is here.”

“Hyungwon I won’t repeat myself, turn around and show me your hands.” Shownu’s voice was getting impatient, almost trembling, and he could hear him approaching slowly.

Slowly Hyungwon pushed the gun in Kihyun’s hand, mouthing a silent “Aim for the knees” before he turned around.

It all went really quick. Kihyun laid on the side and pressed the trigger, aiming at Shownu’s knees while Hyungwon launched himself forward to disorient the other man and push him down on the floor.  
Kihyun missed him, and Hyungwon struggled to make Shownu let go of his own gun. But with a strength that he didn’t know he had, he managed to grab it and throw it at the other side of the room. 

After all, he also received a military training before he decided to join the medical unit.

The two men fought and despite how much he tried, Hyungwon quickly lost against Shownu’s strength and almost lost consciousness when the older man grabbed him by the hair to knock his head harshly on the floor.  
His vision went pitch black for a moment and he couldn’t hear nothing aside from the loud ringing in his ears. 

“You better let him go if you don’t want me to shoot you in the head.” something that resembled a lot like Kihyun’s voice reached his hears and Hyungwon blinked, looking absently at the to silhouettes in front of him.  
Kihyun was now standing behind Shownu’s the barrel of the silencer pressed against the back of his head. The other man stopped moving.

“Why aren’t you doing it.” Hyungwon heard Shownu answer and he moved his eyes to Kihyun. His expression was unreadable, and despite how frail he was looking right now, he could tell that Kihyun was still holding a lot of power despite all the things that happened to him.

“We have an unfinished business you and me, but for now you’ll excuse me, I don’t have the time.” Kihyun finally said and looked over at Hyungwon who was coming back to his sense. 

He used Shownu’s confusion to take the shot of anesthetic he had taken out of the drawer just before and planted it in his thigh, emptying the content in one swift motion.  
At this right moment Hyungwon could see all the disappointment in Shownu’s eyes as the man fell over to the side, freeing Hyungwon from his hold.

“Come on” Kihyun helped him to get up and went to grab Shownu’s gun to hand it to Hyungwon. “Let’s get out of here.” 

Hyungwon nodded and after making sure that no one was coming, he helped Kihyun to walk all the way down to the parking lot, one of Kihyun’s arm wrapped around his shoulders for more maintain.  
Hyungwon looked at his watch and frowned. There was no time left.

A deafening alarm started to rang through the whole building and they both needed to stop for a second before Hyungwon got a better hold on Kihyun and started to rush toward the exit. They were so close to making it… 

_So so close._

It’s when they finally reached the door that a gunfire echoed through the empty hallway. But it didn’t stopped Hyungwon from trying to unlock the digital door that was their only exit.  
“Chae Hyungwon !” it was a scream, full of rage and disgust, and when Hyungwon turned around he saw Jooheon at the end of the hallway.  
Hyungwon cursed and and turned around to the door once again, asking Kihyun to cover him as much as he could until the door would give up. 

“I can’t believe you’re a fucking traitor ! You out of all people !” Jooheon emitted a maniac like laugh before he fired again and both Kihyun and Hyungwon had to get down to protect themselves. 

Kihyun fired back, a few times, until the gun was empty and he turned to glance nervously at Hyungwon.

“Come on come on…. “Hyungwon urged and when the door finally open, he just had the time to push Kihyun out as he heard another gunfire echoing.  
The door closed behind Kihyun and he didn’t had the time to open it again before Jooheon fired again.

At first he didn’t felt it, the burning pain on his waist… It’s when he felt a warm and thick liquid sticking to his dress shirt that Hyungwon looked down to see that a he caught a bullet. Hyungwon breathed out and pressed a hand on the wound, holding his gun towards Jooheon.  
The two of them were facing each other but only the raging sound of the alarm was resonating in the hallway.  
“I wish you could understand why..” Hyungwon breathed and Jooheon scoffed, unamused.  
“I wish I could too.” 

Jooheon was ready to pull the trigger one last time when the door opened again. Hyungwon, who was resting his back against it fell backward but got caught by a strong pair of arms before he was dragged away. 

He heard another exchange of bullets, and the last thing he saw before the door closed was Jooheon falling on the floor.

“I’m sorry Joo’..” he said for himself as he was pulled in a van. He was feeling dizzy, extremely dizzy. 

The van drove off and he could hear people being agitated around him, he perceived five different voices.. But couldn’t recognise any of them until a sharp pain brought him back to his senses. He silently screamed and looked down at the origin of the pain only to see someone pressing a cloth on his wound..  
He saw the woman he now knew by the name of Exy pressing on his wound and she quickly smiled at him before another voice urgently called.

“Exy you need to guide us through the underground tunnel ! Changkyun, I need you to take care of them, Minhyuk, you need to back us up in case they’re following us.” the man at the driver’s seat, who was also the one who dragged Hyungwon in the van, quickly glanced back at the two men who nodded in response. 

He heard some movement behind him and Exy moved to the passenger’s seat, Changkyun moving towards him to press the cloth on his wound instead. The younger looked over at Kihyun who was somewhere next to him with a slight panic in his look. 

“I’m fine Kyun..” Kihyun said, panting slightly “he needs more help than me right now.” 

“It’s good to see you hyung..” he answered with a sad smile and Hyungwon zoned out for a second, the pain on his waist making him whimper again. “ wish we could meet under other circumstances Doc’ “ Changkyun turned his attention back to him, a bit teasing and Hyungwon scoffed, closing his eyes to rest for a moment. 

“Shit.. Minhyuk, they’re there !” the driver said suddenly after checking the rearview mirror and a tall guy with fading red hair got up with a rifle in hand. 

“I’m on it.” 

The so-called Minhyuk opened the roof window of the van and settled his rifle. 

“Minhyuk what the hell.” Kihyun said, looking with a worried and puzzled at his friend when he started to shoot at the cars that were following them. 

“Desperate times requires desperate measures Kihyun.” the red hair shouted and Kihyun looked at him for a few more seconds before he looked down at his hands. 

“For how long can you hold them back ?” the driver said again and Hyungwon was trying to concentrate on what was going on, he felt more dizzy by the minute.  
“Dunno ‘Seok.” another pull of the trigger “More can come, it’s more about how long it’s going to take us to reach the underground.” Minhyuk said, a bit of urgence in his voice. 

“Not more than five minutes.” Exy half shouted for Minhyuk to hear and the latter nodded, getting back to gaining more time for them to get away from Alpha. 

 

___

 

They made it in the nick of time. 

But despite the obvious success of the mission, everyone in the van went completely silent once they managed to get away from Alpha’s soldiers. Minhyuk had closed the roof window and checked on Kihyun, hugging him tight before taking the wheel to let Hoseok rest.  
Changkyun and Exy had helped Hyungwon to bandage his wound, thankfully the bullet was not stuck to deep and they didn’t struggled to much to take it out. Still, Hyungwon fainted. Too exhausted, both physically and mentally to endure the pain.  
Changkyun stayed next to him on the journey back to the headquarters, laptop settled on his thighs he made sure that Alpha wouldn’t be able to track down Hyungwon’s implant. 

As for Hoseok, he stayed as silent as a rock when he finally got to Kihyun. The younger had fallen asleep against his shoulder after Hoseok had settled down next to him, wrapping a protective arm around his shoulder.  
He couldn’t help but feel a burning fury inside of him as he felt Kihyun’s bones under his touch, when he detailed all the bruises and scars that weren’t hidden under Kihyun’s clothes.. When he noticed how tired his face was, dark circles prominent under his eyes, skin pale.. He noticed a particularly deep scar on Kihyun’s neck line and he traced it, feeling his stomach twist at the thoughts of all the thing Kihyun endured.. 

Kihyun stirred awaken, frowning a bit. He looked up at Hoseok lazily for a moment, and Hoseok apologised softly, instead moving his hand in the dirty and tangled strands of Kihyun’s hair.  
Kihyun closed his eyes, letting his head rest against Hoseok’s shoulder before he drifted off to sleep once again. 

No words were exchanged between the two of them. 

When they finally arrived at the headquarters, the medic team took care of Hyungwon and Kihyun. Hyungwon had woken up but Kihyun was unconscious, “knocked off”, like the medic team had said. 

“It’s gonna take him a good week to gain back some strength, but he’ll make it”  
Despite the comforting words, Hoseok stayed next to Kihyun’s bed, the whole night, and the next day too, holding Kihyun’s hand when he started to get agitated, just to prove him that he wasn’t alone anymore, that he was safe. And eventually Kihyun relaxed.

Hyungwon was a bit lost in that new environment where he received a lot of suspicious looks. No one was approaching him, and even the medic team was treating him coldly.  
He was a ex-member of Alpha after all, expecting everyone to trust him from a day to another was maybe…. Too much to ask.  
But the loneliness thanks to Changkyun. The younger visited him the next day, a tiny smile on his lips, he definitely looked better than the last time Hyungwon had seen him. 

“How are you doing ?” he simply asked, letting his clutches on the edge of the medical bed Hyungwon was resting in before sitting on the chair next to it. 

“I’ve seen better times. You ?”  
“I’d say the same. The doc’ here said I’ll need a cane to walk, my leg is fucked up for good.”  
“Sorry I couldn’t do more back then.”  
“Better be breathing and have a fucked leg than not breathing at all.” Changkyun answered and it made the both of them smile.

Silence took place between them for a few minutes, before Changkyun beamed.  
“By the way I kept my promise !”

Hyungwon gave him a questioning look, silently asking him to continue. 

“The back up team managed to get the cat !” he beamed again and Hyungwon broke into a small laughter.  
“I’m really thankful for that.”  
“It scratched a lot and it doesn’t seem like he likes us a lot but at least we got the time to save him too.” he smiled “I’m keeping it in my room for now if… That’s okay.”

The younger suddenly looked a bit shy and Hyungwon smiled a bit wider, nodding his head slowly. “Sure, he can’t wander around in the infirmary anyways… How’s Kihyun doing ?” 

Changkyun paused before he sighed, he expression a bit darker. “He’s still unconscious but the dudes from the medic team said he’s probably gonna wake up soon.. Hoseok is keeping an eye on him. 

“I see..” Hyungwon breathed, his eyes getting lost somewhere in the corner of the infirmary. “He’s going to need you guys, a lot.” he whispered, and Changkyun nodded. 

“Hoseok is there, he’s gonna be fine.”

 

\---

 

“I can’t believe that fucker was planning that for so long.” Jooheon roared, getting out of Alpha’s infirmary with his left arm in a sling, holding a tablet in his right hand.  
“There’s no trace of the IP but we’re sure that his main interlocutor was I.M. He’s the only person able to hack a whole house’s system.. Without talking about the headquarters CCTV... “ Shownu sternly said as he followed the younger.  
“Of course it’s I.M.” Jooheon spat, and Shownu frowned. “What did they told you?” he added more seriously. 

Shownu sighed.

After the massive failure that has been Kihyun’s interrogations and the rebellion’s success of getting him back before he could be executed, Alpha’s dirigeants had convoked Shownu to make him understand that another failure was not acceptable and that they struggled a lot to make noises about the events die down before it could reach the citizens. 

“They want me the launch a final attack once we’ve found their headquarters.” he answered and Jooheon glanced at him “They made it clear that it’s a “no prisoners” kind of raid, that every trained soldier would be commandeered.. And that they want it to happen soon. So I’ll need you to work on this. We need to find them.” Shownu added, opening the door for the younger to get into his office. 

“I’ll make sure to work on it and get a team to help me out.” Jooheon said as he sat in front of his computers, the lights of all the screens reflecting in his orbs full of anger and hatred. “I won’t be able to sleep at night until I know when I’ll be able to shoot both I.M and Chae between the eyes. I don’t have any pity left for traitors.”

Shownu stayed silent at the statement, and only patted Jooheon’s shoulder before he left him to work, heading to the gym area.  
For some reasons, he couldn’t feel any… Hatred towards Hyungwon. He was disappointed, and hurt but Hyungwon’s decision to turn his back to Alpha and his friends but… He couldn’t hate him, and felt no need to get his revenge on him like Jooheon did. 

_Was he only feeling something at all ?_

He frowned, changing for his workout clothes in the locker room before getting in front of the punching bag.  
He started to punch as his mind wandered. He thought of Hyungwon, who had always been a man of conscience in Shownu’s eyes, he thought of Kihyun and remembered how his eyes at first full of fighting spirit had lost any emotions at some point, leaving him looking like an empty shell. He thought of his superiors would were now asking him to commit probably the biggest mass murder in Alpha’s history… 

And finally he thought of Hoseok. 

Shownu stopped punching the bag, panting heavily, looking into the void, heart beating too fast and an unfamiliar knot forming in his stomach.  
Hoseok was still out there, working for the enemy, fighting for what he thought was liberty.  
And if Shownu decided to take the responsibility to lead this raid, that would also mean that he had to accept losing his brother completely. The brother he did all of that for. To make sure he would be safe.  
He closed his eyes, inhaling sharply before exhaling as sharply.  
He was a soldier. There was no place for remorse.  
No place for sentiments.  
No place for nostalgia. 

He finally opened his eyes again and punched harder in the bag, and he punched again, harder, and harder. He had no other choice, than to take this mission, and fight for what he believed for. No matter what it would cost him at the end of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, hi, sorry not sorry for all the shit that happened in here lmao  
> That's the longest chapter I've ever wrote but I'm not gonna lie, I was really excited and enjoyed writting it down.~  
> I hope you also enjoyed it, as always, I appreciate feedbacks !
> 
> find me on twitter if you feel like it : @snowonnie

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter, I was feeling really inspired haha,,,,  
> As always, I'll be really greatful if there's kudos but most importantly comments, it's always nice to exchange with you guys and know what you are thinking ! If you have any questions it'll be my pleasure to answer them :)  
> See you soon for the next chapter !  
> You can find me on twitter : @snowonnie


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